The University of Sidney's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Australia) recently announced the official opening of the last of five integrated biofuels facilities funded under the Commonwealth Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). Called the "NCRIS Hydrothermal Biofuels Research Pilot Plant", the facility "will provide researchers, an opportunity to improve biofuel production, taking it a step closer to becoming a commercially viable, sustainable energy source". The process in focus is the hydrothermal treatment of lignocellulosic biomass (particularly woody biomass). The hydrothermal process involves submerging the biomass in hot water at temperatures and pressures of up to 300^oC and 250 atmospheres, respectively. No pretreatment agents, such as acid or alkali, are added. According to the University of Sidneys's news release, "The plant will experiment with the variables of production, with the aim of finding an economical processing method. Australian academic and industrial researchers can now investigate turning fundamental discoveries into practical applications that employ the unique green processing environment offered by hot water at high pressure".