The invitation follows from a collaborative research proposal put forward by Singsaas and partners in mid-2011. Led by Dave Hanson, a professor of biology at the University of New Mexico, the consortium included partner institutions UWSP, University of Illinois-Urbana, University of Washington St. Louis, and Sandia National Laboratories. The group applied for grant funding through ARPA-E in a project aimed at harnessing the photosynthetic power of plants to produce hydrocarbons for fuels. Although the proposal was not funded, it was selected as a finalist for funding. As such, the partnership has been invited to participate in the Technology Showcase highlighting breakthrough research at the summit in the Gaylord National Convention Center in Washington. Details about the summit are at this website: http://www.energyinnovationsummit.com/

ARPA-E was created by Congressional action in 2007. Its focus is on "creative "out-of-the-box" transformational energy research that industry by itself cannot or will not support due to its high risk but where success would provide dramatic benefits for the nation." The project proposed by Hanson, Singsaas and partners is called "Light to liquid: Comprehensive engineering for fuel from plants." The aim is to genetically engineer plants to produce a high-density fuel precursor, which would be then be converted to biofuels. The group intends to first engineer a novel structure in the chloroplasts of moss, because it is easier to genetically engineer simple rather than complex plants. The ultimate goal is to engineer the traits into higher plants such as switchgrass.

If successful the project would lead to major efficiency gains in biofuel production - the sort of technological leap ARPA-E seeks to promote. With encouragement from the agency, Singsaas, Hanson and partners are refining their project and plan to submit a proposal in the next round of ARPA-E funding. In the meantime they continue to work on related biofuels research.