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Media Contacts
![U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm tours ORNL’s world-class science facilities](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-11/2021-P09409.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=C8b0_-Vk)
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited ORNL on Nov. 22 for a two-hour tour, meeting top scientists and engineers as they highlighted projects and world-leading capabilities that address some of the country’s most complex research and technical challenges.
![Carrie Eckert](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-11/2021-P08048.jpg?h=fdb72c6d&itok=pWcXR26-)
Carrie Eckert applies her skills as a synthetic biologist at ORNL to turn microorganisms into tiny factories that produce a variety of valuable fuels, chemicals and materials for the growing bioeconomy.
![Environmental scientist John Field uses ecosystem models to analyze sustainable methods for growing crops such as switchgrass. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/2021-P07473_2.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=3bMWB4As)
For ORNL environmental scientist and lover of the outdoors John Field, work in ecosystem modeling is a profession with tangible impacts.
![ORNL metabolic engineer Adam Guss develops genetic tools to modify microbes that can perform a range of processes needed to create sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-08/2021-P05224.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=_5e3ckBD)
As a metabolic engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Adam Guss modifies microbes to perform the diverse processes needed to make sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.
![ORNL’s Josh Michener, a microbiologist and metabolic engineer, led the discovery of a useful new enzyme that breaks down stubborn bonds in lignin, a polymer found in plants that typically becomes waste during bioconversion. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-06/2019-P05683_0.jpg?h=4c5cadcc&itok=FSVdbEYP)
In a step toward increasing the cost-effectiveness of renewable biofuels and bioproducts, scientists at ORNL discovered a microbial enzyme that degrades tough-to-break bonds in lignin, a waste product of biorefineries.
![Aviation contributes about 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. To greatly reduce its emissions, the U.S. commercial aviation sector needs new methods of making sustainable aviation fuel. Credit: Ross Parmly/Unsplash](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-06/ross-parmly-rf6ywHVkrlY-unsplash_0.jpg?h=fee4874d&itok=BEdQYEQ2)
ORNL’s Zhenglong Li led a team tasked with improving the current technique for converting ethanol to C3+ olefins and demonstrated a unique composite catalyst that upends current practice and drives down costs. The research was published in ACS Catalysis.
![A research team led by ORNL’s Xiaohan Yang used a gene from agave to engineer higher yield, improved stress tolerance and greater carbon sequestration in tobacco plants. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-06/2019-P09831.jpg?h=39b94f55&itok=8O8d7xMb)
Scientists at ORNL have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
![ORNL ecosystem scientist Colleen Iversen talked to fourth-grade students at Coulter Grove Intermediate School in Maryville on Friday, April 23, as part of National Environmental Education Week.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-04/Sciencetalk3_1.jpg?h=29234840&itok=wWaAJG05)
Esther Parish is one of eight scientists from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory talking to students in nine schools across East Tennessee as part of National Environmental Education Week, or EE Week.
![A Co-Optima research team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Jim Szybist in collaboration with Argonne, Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, created a merit function tool that evaluates six fuel properties and their impact on engine performance, giving the scientific community a guide to quickly evaluate biofuels. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-12/2017-P08539-2_0.jpg?h=b6236d98&itok=h0OT2BqC)
As ORNL’s fuel properties technical lead for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Co-Optimization of Fuel and Engines, or Co-Optima, initiative, Jim Szybist has been on a quest for the past few years to identify the most significant indicators for predicting how a fuel will perform in engines designed for light-duty vehicles such as passenger cars and pickup trucks.
![stacked poplar logs](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/poplar_sized.jpg?h=e91a75a9&itok=Oq847ULr)
Popular wisdom holds tall, fast-growing trees are best for biomass, but new research by two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories reveals that is only part of the equation.