UOP to help establish UAE’s first bioenergy research project

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Boeing and Etihad Airways announced an agreement to establish a research institute in Abu Dhabi dedicated to pioneering sustainable energy solutions. The institute, the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project (SBRP), will use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and co-products. The integrated seawater agriculture systems (ISAS) approach is a highly efficient system for producing liquid and solid biofuels, capturing and holding carbon from the atmosphere, enlarging habitats to increase biodiversity, and simultaneously releasing fresh water for higher value uses such as drinking water. ISAS also has the potential to reduce the impact of sea level rise on coastal communities. (January 19, 2010)