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Spring 2004 |
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Cover Story
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Three Iowa State University teams involved in biomass research projects recently received funding from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy totaling more than $4 million. The joint grant program between the USDA and U.S. Department of Energy is part of the Bush Administration's effort to increase America's energy independence through the development of additional renewable energy resources. Only 19 projects out of 400 applications were selected for funding."This is a big win for the state of Iowa and ISU," said Robert Brown, director of ISU's Office of Biorenewables Programs. "Not only can the use of biomass decrease our nation's dependence on foreign sources of petroleum, it also has great potential to boost Iowa's economy by developing value-added products from Iowa's most important resource: agricultural crops. These awards also confirm ISU's leadership in developing biobased products." The Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, or CSET, received $1 million from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to research production of biopolymers from distillers'; dried grains, a byproduct in the production of ethanol from corn. "Development of value-added products from these grains will be critical to the future profitability of the corn ethanol industry," said Brown, CSET director, ISU Bergles professor of mechanical engineering, and a professor of chemical engineering. Past efforts to turn distillers' dried grains into other products have proven too costly for commercial applications. Brown and his research team will investigate a different, three-step process that they hope will prove to be more cost effective. Partners in the project include South Dakota State University and Midwest Grain Processors, Lakota, Iowa, one of the largest farmer-owned ethanol plants in the country. The project builds on research supported by the Biorenewable Resources Consortium at Iowa State and the Iowa Energy Center. In another project, the Center for Catalysis, or CCAT, is a partner with West Central Cooperative of Ralston, Iowa, in a $1.2-million award to study new technologies for production of methyl ester from soybeans. This "soy diesel" is gaining favor as an alternative fuel and a more environmentally friendly industrial solvent. This project was initiated by a grant from CCAT and the Biorenewables Resource Consortium. Another research group is a partner with Metabolix, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, that won a $2-million award to study advanced biorefinery feedstocks. The goal is to develop a genetically engineered crop that can be processed into a family of biodegradable polymers and energy. |
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