BP Funds Energy Institute

The energy firm BP (formerly British Petroleum) has announced the creation of the Energy Biosciences Institute and has selected the University of California–Berkeley, the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to lead the effort. In addition to contributing $500 million over ten years, BP will also help to run the institute, which has a stated goal of research into alternative fuels, especially biofuels. If approved by the legislature, the State of California will contribute $40 million to the institute.