The Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC) is a National Science Foundation Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation. CENTC brings together researchers from across North America to collaboratively address the economic, environmental and national security needs for more efficient, inexpensive and environmentally friendly methods of producing chemicals and fuels from a variety of feedstocks.

Through catalysis, CENTC researchers can lower the energy costs to transforming chemicals, use inexpensive, abundant and nontoxic starting materials and generate less waste. Fundamentally new technologies are needed to reduce our dependency on foreign oil both for fuels and for chemicals. The production of chemicals including plastics and medicines from petroleum can be made more efficient through catalysis. Novel catalytic methods are also needed to develop alternatives to petroleum for fuels and chemicals. Coal, shale and biomass may all be viable as starting materials for the production of fuels.