Fueling Research
By Marlene Lucas, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
May 20–Energy giants BP and ConocoPhillips each announced multimillion-dollar biofuels research programs with universities this year, and the U.S. Department of Energy will name recipients of three $25 million bioenergy research grants this summer.
These are a sampling of the big dollars flowing into the search for better technology in the biofuels industry.
Not since the push to put a man on the moon during President Kennedy’s administration has such an effort by so many scientists been focused on achieving a goal, said Jeff Sherwood at the Energy Department, which will spend $200 million this year on biomass research and applied industry.
The goal, defined by President Bush, is to cut the nation’s use of gasoline by 20 percent over 10 years.
“This isn’t a pipe dream, this is something that our nation can accomplish,” Bush said in March.
Ethanol gets much of the attention, but it is not the only biofuel being looked at by scientists.
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont company, has research geared to ethanol and also is working with biobutanol. The latter provides fuel economy superior to ethanol and is pipeline-friendly, unlike ethanol, said Russ Sanders, director of marketing for Pioneer in Johnston.
Biobutanol can be processed from the same feedstocks as ethanol and in ethanol plants.
DuPont also has developed Sorona, a corn-based polymer that can replace petroleum-based polymers used in fabrics and carpets.
Pioneer, an agricultural leader in seed development, is putting traits in corn that increase fermenting efficiency and ethanol yield. Ethanol byproducts, such as livestock feed, are another area of research for Pioneer.
“We use energy from the sun, genetics from the corn and the fermentation with enzymes to develop novel products with functionality,” Sanders said.
Nearly half of DuPont’s $1.4 billion annual research budget goes to biorenewable projects.
The bulk of biofuels research in Iowa is conducted at Iowa State University. The university’s Bioeconomy Initiative, established in 2002, connects bioenergy research campuswide, said Robert Brown, director of the Office of Biorenewables Program.
“Rather than working on single pieces of a big problem, we wanted them to step back and look at these problems as systems that would encompass everything from growing crops to harvesting and transporting it to converting it into fuels and then moving the fuels to market and how those markets are affected by demand for fuel and competition for food and ultimately how those fuels work in automobiles,” Brown said.
Increased effectiveness was the outcome. Faculty members found collaborators on campus that they didn’t know about. By working together with them, they were able to put together proposals that would otherwise have been unattainable.
Today, 140 faculty members contribute to the Bioeconomy Initiative with more than $54 million in cumulative sponsored research funding from industry and federal agencies from 2002 to 2006.
In April, ConocoPhillips announced an eight-year, $22.5 million research program at Iowa State University to develop technologies that produce biorenewable fuels.
“ConocoPhillips is interested in evaluating all of the options that are available,” Brown said. “I like to point out that ethanol is not the goal. Our goal is reducing imported petroleum, mitigating climate change, and revitalizing the rural economy.
“Ethanol is one pathway but there are many pathways we haven’t started to explore. That’s one of the things we have set out to do at Iowa State University and ConocoPhillips is a partner with us in exploring those pathways.”
One of ISU’s research challenges is breaking down cellulosic plant materials for conversion to biofuels. Heat, rather than the fermentation used with plant starch, may be feasible.
“ConocoPhillips is interested in the thermochemical approach,” Brown said. “Our inspiration is a prairie fire. It is able to move very quickly and process cellulosic biomass.”
A reactor captures the chemically reactive gas released from the heated cellulosic and runs the gas over a catalyst. The result is syngas, a liquid fuel.
The ultimate payoff is not more ethanol plants in Iowa but that Iowa will have companies building these advanced technologies throughout the world, Brown said.
Iowa’s other universities participate in biofuels research to a lesser degree.
The University of Northern Iowa has several areas of biofuels research. The National Ag-Based Lubricants Center has developed lubricants from soybeans and will be on the cutting edge of performance testing of biofuels, said Pat Geadelmann, assistant to the president at UNI.
“We’ve had a variety of funding from the state, the Iowa Soybean Association, industry support, equipment from John Deere, The Department of Energy and grants from USDA,” she said.
UNI researchers also are looking at using prairie vegetation as biomass, a feedstock for making biofuels; emissions from combustion of alternative fuels; biobased binders for metal casting and soy-based screen printing.
The University of Iowa, known for research in medicine, has some small biofuels research projects, including ways to reduce biodiesel emissions.
Grants from $20 million in fiscal 2006 supported bioenergy grants at many land-grant universities, with ISU being a “big recipient,” said Carmela Bailey with USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension.
“Most of the work is on the conversion of ag waste to biofuel. Some is in developing energy crops such as oil seeds and switchgrass,” Bailey said. “Grants are ramping up and may spike at $30 million in 2008.
“There was a big push for ethanol back in the 1970s and then it dwindled,” Bailey added.
“But this time it’s different. Technologies have come a long way.
Biobased energy and products are here to stay.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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