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BIOENERGY ALLIANCE AT FOREFRONT OF BIOENERGY RESEARCH By REBECCA WATTS

For more information: Visit agbioenergy.tamu.edu or call 862-7136 The Texas A&M University System has aligned two of their most recognized research agencies, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s goal of producing 30% of the nation’s transportation fuels from biomass by the year 2030. Together the agencies form the BioEnergy Alliance and are becoming the nation’s leading researchers and developers of bioproducts and technology. Bob Avant, director of Texas AgriLife Research’s bioenergy program said, “About two years ago, the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M System created the BioEnergy Alliance between TAES and TEES to bring together all of our resources to develop a strategic approach for bioenergy research.” The primary focus of the alliance is to develop efficient, new energy systems that are feasible to produce, sustain and transport, but also leave as little imprint on the planet as possible. Researchers have found alternative energy sources in nature’s own waste materials as well as in waste caused by human production and consumption. Additionally, specific crops

can be grown for energy use. Both are sources of biomass, which put simply, is any living or dead material from a plant that uses the sun to obtain energy. Common biomass materials include wood, grass, plants, fungus and even gas produced from landfills. Biomass is highly desired as an alternative fuel because it is sustainable and has the potential to be readily available, possibly displacing gasoline completely as a fuel source.

The benefits of energy from biomass are threefold: it improves the environment, enables national energy independence and security, and promotes economic development. The agricultural sector needs to provide over 1 billion tons of biomass to meet the Department of Energy’s goal. This poses production, transportation, and storage problems that do not yet have solutions. An integral aspect of the BioEnergy Alliance is addressing these issues in addition to the search for viable fuel alternatives.

Most of the crops currently developed for the production of ethanol are grain-based and are adaptable to being loaded and carried in the same manner food supplies are, said Dr. Bill McCutchen, associate director of Texas AgriLife Research. The TAES and TEES agencies are researching ways to tackle infrastructure and logistical problems associated with accommodating this amount of biomass and commercializing its production.

Avant said, “The difficulty lies from field to fuel tank: transporting, harvesting, storing, conversion technology -- 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels from alternative sources. That amount of material presents a paradigm shift for the agriculture sector in manufacturing and production technology.”

Converting biomass into biofuel uses two primary processes: thermo-conversion and enzymatic conversion. Thermo-conversion uses heat in an oxygen-free environment to turn biomass into a gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can then be turned into fuel. Enzymatic conversion uses a process similar to the process of making beer or wine to create ethanol. Enzymes break the starches and other plant carbohydrates into sugars and are then fermented into alcohol. The alcohol is distilled to obtain ethanol. The BioEnergy Alliance is working on a third conversion method that could be more efficient than either of the above.

Current biofuel production is based on the manufacture of ethanol from grain crops like corn, using enzymatic conversion. Corn, being over 70% starch, was thought to be the perfect candidate for such a process. However, corn can replace only 15% to 20% of the United States’ gasoline consumption. Scientific studies have found that producing ethanol from corn creates many of the same problems gasoline creates without much return in energy. Because of this, research conducted by the BioEnergy Alliance deals with converting other forms of biomass into biofuels. TAES research has found sorghum, an annual, drought-resistant crop, shows corn’s promise while eliminating many of corn’s problems. The crop also out-produces switch grass, another alternative fuel source.

“Sorghum is a very exciting opportunity. There are a lot of possibilities with sorghum that makes it better than switch grass,” Avant said. “Switch grass is a perennial crop and sorghum can produce about twice as much biomass per acre than switch grass.”

There are three varieties of sorghum: green sorghum, sweet sorghum and high-foliage sorghum. The latter two play completely different roles in biofuels. Sweet sorghum is similar to sugar cane. The plant produces sugar in stalk, like sugarcane, which is used for ethanol production. High-foliage sorghum can grow as high as 20 feet and is grown for the leaves and stems. Energy is obtained from the plant through cellulosic ethanol production.

“What we’re talking about is using the entire plant material. It’s similar to the starch being broken down, we’re just using more complex materials,” Avant said.

This method has the added benefit of recycling the gaseous output produced by the use of biomass energy. The plants are above ground and use carbon dioxide as their fuel, reducing overall carbon-emission in the environment. Using the entire plant as a means of energy creates an energy return of four times the energy produced by grain or sugar. The key component is cellulose contained inside the cell walls of a plant; however, a method of isolating the sugar is not complete. This method of conversion steps away from the nation’s dependence on gasoline and ethanol and into an industry that has the capability to provide a long-term, efficient energy solution.

“Ethanol is a very important component of the industry today, but we are looking perhaps a decade out,” McCuthens said. “I think our ultimate objective here is to move toward gasoline derivatives that are much more efficient in terms of power. As long as we have the biomass in place, we can use those for ethanol production but eventually want to use it for gasoline derivatives.”

Chevron Technology Ventures, a division of Chevron USA, Inc., is aiding the alliance to speed the conversion process to allow for manufacturing. The company has a four-year partnership with the BioEnergy Alliance.

Rick Zalesky, vice president of Biofuels and Hydrogen for Chevron said, “Making it commercially viable poses a number of scientific and technical challenges, challenges we believe the faculty, staff and students at one of the world’s premier universities in agricultural sciences and engineering are well-equipped to overcome.”

Ceres, Inc. has also joined the BioEnergy Alliance in a joint research and commercialization partnership to develop and produce sorghum for biomass. Ceres is the leading developer of high-yielding energy crops for cellulosic conversion. Sorghum’s high potential as a specialized biomass crop stems from its adaptability to regional conditions. Ceres and TAES are working together to develop sorghum plants that are specific to their purpose as biomass producers or breeders with traits carefully cultivated. Ceres’ involvement streamlines the process and cuts years off development.

The BioEnergy Alliance is unique. TAES is the leading agency in Texas working on biofuels from the agriculture perspective. Other universities are working from production perspectives. The BioEnergy Alliance is the only program in the state of Texas that is pooling their resources and working jointly. Texas is a prime location for the production and development of bioenergy. McCutchen said Texas has the resources most other states do not in terms of chemical and energy structures, such as ports and extensive pipeline structures. Also, Texas provides the opportunity for a higher yield of biomass simply because the growing season is longer than others.

“We have an opportunity to wean ourselves off of oil,” McCutchen said. “Our basic mission is to work with the state along with several partners to develop the best dedicated energy crops and produce gasoline and diesel derivatives.”