The NSF ERC for Carbon Utilization Redesign for Biomanufacturing (CURB) will transform U.S. manufacturing by valorizing waste CO₂, enabling a circular carbon economy, and creating quality biomanufacturing jobs. The U.S. energy and industrial sectors emit about 6 billion tons of CO₂ annually, presenting a unique low-cost feedstock opportunity for the domestic supply chain.

CURB will advance, deploy and scale innovative hybrid electro-biomanufacturing systems in which CO₂ serves as a valuable feedstock for producing a broad range of chemicals, fuels, materials and food far more efficiently than both natural photosynthesis and current state-of-the-art technologies. These cost-effective, energy-efficient biomanufacturing solutions will facilitate the next-generation bioeconomy and strengthen the domestic industrial supply chain.

CURB’s network of academic institutions and industry partners, ranging from start-ups to major corporations, is uniquely positioned to move these technologies from the laboratory to commercial scale. Commercialization of the resulting technologies is expected to advance domestic biomanufacturing with millions of job opportunities and fuel tens of billions of dollars in economic growth.