BP Funds Search for Green Fuels at UC Berkeley

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The $500 million BP pledged in 2007 to form the Energy Biosciences Institute was the largest corporate sponsorship ever of university research. The gift – doled out over 10 years to UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – created an institute to research plant-based fuels such as ethanol.

Critics accused BP of "greenwashing," trying to buy a more environmentally friendly image. Others questioned whether the university could maintain its academic integrity while taking such a large corporate gift. They feared the deal would blur the lines between the company's mission to make money and the university's to create knowledge.

No word yet on Cal-Berkeley demonstrations against itself for taking BP money.