The federal government has decided that alternative fuels are the next big thing–so NCSU is getting in on the action (read: government largesse).
According to an NCSU press release:
The U.S. Department of Energy?s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) has awarded a grant for more than $2.7 million to North Carolina State University to support research into the creation of biofuels using microbial organisms, called extremophiles, that live in high-temperature environments.
I’m not saying that extremophiles won’t revolutionize energy–they might. But, given government’s track record, I wouldn’t bet on it.