The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy recently awarded $23 million in biomass research funding to 19 projects selected under a joint solicitation. This marks the first major collaborative effort by the two departments to solicit and select biomass research and development projects and a significant leap forward in interagency coordination, federal resource leveraging, and realization of the goals outlined in the Biomass R&D Act of 2000, which calls for increased collaboration between USDA and DOE. The joint solicitation allowed the two departments to solicit research that addressed their specific missions in a coordinated manner.

USDA and DOE plan to alternate responsibility for administering the joint solicitation each year. In fiscal year 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administered the solicitation, receiving approximately 400 applications by the May 16, 2003 deadline. All eligible applications were evaluated in a joint USDA/DOE technical merit review process. Each department also reviewed the applications based on cost and programmatic priorities. The Department of Energy selected four winning projects; the Department of Agriculture selected fifteen. The joint solicitation process for fiscal year 2004 will be managed by the Department of Energy.

Selected projects for the 2003 fiscal year can be categorized into seven areas: crosscutting, product uses, thermal conversion, bioconversion, feedstocks, anaerobic, and biorefineries. Future newsletter articles will take a closer look at the winning projects in each of these categories. Brief descriptions of each of the selected projects are listed below.

U.S. Department of Energy Projects

1. Trustees of Dartmouth (Hanover, NH) - Integration of Leading Biomass Pretreatment Technologies with Enzymatic Digestion and Hydrolyzate Fermentation

   The goal of this project is to develop and compare leading pretreatment technologies coupled with fermentation and enzymatic digestion. The project team also seeks to better understand interactions among pretreatment, fermentation, and enzymatic hydrolysis to gain insight that will facilitate selection and commercialization of cellulosic technologies and lead to steep change cost reductions. Another goal is to train and educate students in biomass technologies. Corn stover will be used to tie to previous research, but the team will focus primarily on poplar, a leading woody energy crop, coupled with fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis. The team will also work closely with Genencor International to apply commercial and new state-of-the-art enzyme formulations in this research. Although the fermentation portion focuses on ethanol, the results should be valuable in making other products.

2. University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) - Engineering Thermotolerant Biocatalysts for Biomass Conversion to Products

   The primary objective of this study is to construct novel thermotolerant biocatalysts (second generation) that function optimally under environmental conditions that are also optimal for the activity of fungal cellulases. Development of these second-generation biocatalysts will significantly decrease the cost of cellulose bioconversion processes by facilitating a two-fold or more reduction in the amount of cellulase enzymes that are required in SSF process designs.

3. PureVision Technology, Inc. (Ft. Lupton, CO) - Demonstration of the PureVision Biorefinery

   This project will be carried out by a multidisciplinary consortium consisting of five private companies, a federal corporation, a national laboratory, and two institutions of higher education to increase the scientific understanding of and ensure U.S. leadership in biomass conversion. Funding under this grant will support Phase I of a two-phase project.

   Phase I is expected to take 16 months to complete and consists of five tasks: (1) optimize parameters for continuous counterflow washing of biomass at elevated temperature followed by steam explosion to yield liquid fractions containing dissolved lignin, hemicellulose, and extractives and a solid fraction of highly reactive and essentially pure cellulose with supporting microscopy studies; (2) develop a unique enzyme system and optimize enzymatic hydrolysis of the pure cellulose fraction to produce sugar (glucose) at high yield; (3) characterize, separate, and recover marketable components from the liquid fractions; (4) develop the design criteria to build a fully integrated demonstration biorefinery and perform economic modeling, evaluation, and simulation of a commercial PureVision biorefinery; and (5) monitor, document, and report on project progress and results. The ultimate goal of Phase I will be to determine a go/no-go scenario to proceed to Phase II.

4. Cargill, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) - Platform Chemicals from an Oilseed Biorefinery

   This project will use a multidisciplinary approach to develop a platform of industrial chemicals based on novel applications of biocatalysts and chemistry that will serve as the foundation for an oilseed biorefinery, or an integrated carbohydrate/oilseed biorefinery. The first target of this program is the generation of novel platform intermediates from vegetable oils using metathesis chemistry. Modifying the oils by biocatalysis is expected to enhance the diversity and value of the resulting chemicals. Cargill will partner with Materia, Inc. and Caltech to develop and screen catalysts and to develop process flowsheets, simulations, and economic estimates for the metathesis industry. Battelle Memorial Institute will develop novel polymer applications for the platform of chemicals derived from this platform. Cargill will use this information to build an oilseed biorefinery model. Bio-Technical Resources will expand the concept by exploring the use of a novel enzyme for modifying the oils prior to chemical catalysis.

1. Metabolix, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) - Advanced Biorefinery Feedstocks

   The objective of this project is to develop a genetically engineered biomass crop (switchgrass) that can be processed in a biorefinery to produce a family of biodegradable, biobased polymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and energy. The ABF project focuses on developing transgenic plants that produce PHAs at economic levels and retain robust agronomic characteristics. This project will apply recent advances in plant gene expression technology coupled with high-throughput metabolic profiling.

2. Utah State University (Logan, UT) - Research and Demonstration of Anaerobic System on a Large Dairy Farm

   The objective of this project is to develop a full-scale anaerobic digester dairy farm system that generates significant amounts of electricity (two 80 kW microturbines) that will be fed into the power grid. The three main goals of the project are to (1) demonstrate the induced blanket reactor (IBR) system in full scale on a large dairy farm and verify technology performance expectations, (2) identify areas of opportunity for system and technology improvement, and (3) investigate the commercial and economic viability of the IBR system and estimate the market potential.

3. Earth Resources, Inc. (Carnesville, GA) - Animal Waste Management-Chicken Litter to Energy

   This project's objective is to use chicken litter as a fuel for power generation and the combusted ash for fertilizer using waste combustion or gasification. Fixed-bed combustion will be experimentally compared with fluidized-bed gasification in terms of combustion and thermal efficiencies. The potential to generate hydrogen during fluidized-bed gasification will be investigated. A primary objective of this program is to develop cost-effective, environmentally sound thermochemical conversion technologies to convert biomass feedstocks into useful electric power, heat, and potential fuels and products. Data will be generated to demonstrate the technical feasibility of gasification of chicken litter to produce power (steam and eventually electricity) and fertilizer.

4. West Central Cooperative (Ralston, IA) - New Technologies for Production of Methyl Esters

   The goal of this project is to refine, field-test, and install new technologies that have been developed and proven by scientists at Iowa State University for the production of methyl esters. The new technologies will reduce energy consumption, enhance economic competitiveness, and reduce environmental impacts of methyl ester production. Five generations of base-type catalysts will be synthesized for mounting on mesoporous solid supports and for evaluating their efficiency and recyclability in catalyzing the transesterification of oils with methanol. Four generations of acid-type mesoporous solid catalysts will be synthesized for esterification of various oils and fatty acid feedstocks with methanol. The project team will (1) field test new, recyclable heterogeneous acid and base catalysts for converting various oils and fatty acid oils to methyl esters, (2) fine tune the performance characteristics of the new heterogeneous catalysts, and (3) conduct cost analyses using selected heterogeneous catalysts with various oils and fatty acid feedstocks. It is anticipated these technologies will result in yearly savings exceeding $100,000 at the West Central Cooperative Ralston plant, and significantly reduce environmental impacts of methyl ester production.

5. Clemson University (Clemson, SC) - Heterogeneous Catalyst Development for Biodiesel Synthesis

   The project team will investigate solid acid catalysts for use in the esterification of fatty acids, the transesterification of triglycerides, and the esterification of glycerol to compounds suitable for use in diesel engines. The catalysts being studied would permit continuous processes to be built around three-phase reactors such as slurry bubble column and trickle bed reactors. Single catalysts or mixtures of solid catalysts could be used to carry out multiple reactions simultaneously. Use of such catalysts should allow the processing of a wider range of biodiesel feedstocks, thus allowing for more economical processes. Determination of the commercial potential of the research findings is an integral part of this project.

6. New Energy Solutions, Inc. (Pittsfield, MA) - Design and Demonstration of a Commercial Prototype for Onsite Production of High-Purity Hydrogen from Farm Animal Wastes

   New Energy Solutions, Inc. (NESI) has integrated REB Research and Consulting's (REB's) patented hydrogen selective tubes into the design of a compact plant for converting animal wastes into high-purity hydrogen. The overall plant design includes an anaerobic digester to provide anaerobic digester gas (ADG) to generate pure hydrogen. The project objective is to demonstrate the operational, environmental, and economic features and benefits of an innovative plant designed for utilizing animal wastes to produce ultra-high-purity hydrogen for a variety of uses that include fuel for fuel cells, transportation, and industrial processes. NESI will conduct a three-phase program, the results of which will include verification of the design parameters and performance database for the plant; design and construction of a Beta demonstration plant; and demonstration of the operational, environmental, and economic features of this plant at an existing anaerobic digester site on a dairy farm in New York State.

7. Archer Daniels Midland Company (Quincy, IL/ Decatur, IN) - Biomass Research and Development for the Production of Fuels, Chemicals, and Improved Cattle Feed

   This project's objective is to expand ethanol production while ensuring adequate feed supply to the cattle market from greater utilization of pretreated lignocellulosics derived from current crops and existing agricultural processing operations. The project team will outline new approaches to processing corn in dry mills, including cost-effectively improving fermentation of yeast through the supply of adequate nitrogen while improving the separation of germ and fiber for increased co-product value. The team will seek to create a bioavailable cattle feed by mixing pretreated agricultural processing by-products and pretreated agricultural residues. The materials examined in this study will be distillers' dried grains, soybean hulls, corn germ meal, corn stover, and wheat straw. Benefits to farmers, processors, cattle feed operations, consumers, animals, the environment, and imported energy will be the subject of a life cycle analysis generated through this research and included as an essential component of the final report.

8. GrainValue, LLC (St. Paul, MN) - GrainValue Process: Pre-Commercialization Trials

   This project seeks to evaluate and advance to commercialization a novel biorefinery process to fractionate and refine corn grain, distinct from traditional wet and dry milling. The resulting, more valuable coproducts-ethanol, protein, yeast, and germ or oil-could be sold into large, established markets under existing regulations. This should increase revenue by approximately $1.00 and increase profit by approximately $.70 for every bushel processed. It should also substantially increase return on investment, thereby improving the potential for the development of rural based processing and manufacturing of biobased products. This project is a cooperative effort involving GrainValue LLC (the developers), DENCO LLC (a farmer-owned ethanol plant), corn grower organizations, and university scientists aimed at bringing this technology to the point of commercialization. Project activities include pilot plant work to refine and validate the process, engineering and economic evaluation, feeding trials of protein and yeast byproducts, and continued improvement of our understanding of the underlying chemistry and biology involved.

9. Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA) - Coupled Processes for Bioenergy Production: Biological Hydrogen Linked with Microbial Fuel Cells

   The project objective is to develop a coupled fermentation-microbial fuel cell process for producing electricity directly from biomass. Two different biomass materials will be used: animal wastewater and high-cellulose (low-lignin) biomass sources such as corn stover. Through fermentation of these materials, hydrogen gas will be produced and recovered. This will require the development of a process to produce hydrogen at high concentrations from animals in the first stage of the process. The process will involve metabolic engineering of clostridia to produce hydrogen through the degradation of cellulosic substrates and the construction and testing of a flow-through microbial fuel cell to produce electricity from these fermentation systems. The project involves collaboration between Pennsylvania State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

10. Iowa State University (Ames, IA) - Biopolymers and Other Value-Added Products from Distillers' Dried Grains

    The overall objective of this research is to develop value-added products from distillers' dried grains (DDG), a byproduct of ethanol fermentation via the dry grain milling process. The corn dry milling industry is rapidly expanding in the United States for the production of fuel ethanol. Although this is a promising development for production of biobased transportation fuels, markets for DDG may become saturated as a result. Development of value-added products from DDG will be critical to the future profitability of the corn ethanol industry. The project team will extract readily accessible oils and proteins from DDG followed by thermal gasification of the high-fiber byproduct to produce syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2), which then serves as feedstock in an anaerobic fermentation. Although a variety of fermentation products can be produced by "syngas fermentation," the focus of this study is polyhydroxyalkonates (PHA), polyesters with potential applications in the manufacture of biobased plastics, fibers, and films. This project is a collaboration among Iowa State University, South Dakota University, and Midwest Grain Processors Corporation.

11. Local Energy (Tesuque, NM) - Biomass-Fired District Energy: A Source of Economic Development and Energy Security

    The purpose of this project is to design a district heating system for the downtown area of Santa Fe, New Mexico utilizing woody biomass materials from overstocked fire-prone forests surrounding the community. The system will be designed by the world's most accomplished biomass district energy designer-the winner of the prestigious 2003 Energy Globe Award. The design will be optimized not only for peak efficiency, but for maximum creation of local economic benefit. Every aspect of the project-even the value of the emissions reductions credits, will be considered during the techno-economic optimization. The beneficial impacts on output, earnings, and jobs for the optimized model will be quantified, and the results will be used to teach other communities how to develop their local economies and improve their energy security using renewable biomass energy.

12. Vermont's Alternative Energy Corporation (Williston, VT) - Steps Towards a Biorefinery Industry in Vermont

    This project represents a collaboration between five organizations with specific expertise in biomass production or utilization. The general goal of this proposal is to define avenues for the development of a biorefinery industry in Vermont based on the state's rich agricultural resources. The project team aims to conduct three separate investigations that, together, are crucial to understanding the potential for biomass utilization in Vermont and the Northeast. Through the project, the team aims to define a complete pathway to the development of economically sustainable biomass-based enterprises that match the geography as well as the social and environmental values of the region. More specifically, the project involves possible on-farm energy generation from largely animal wastes, off-farm electric generation and processing of biomass into liquid fuels.

13. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (College Station, TX) - Biomass for Tomorrow's Energy and Greenhouse Gas Management Needs: An Economic, Engineering and Environmental Appraisal of Opportunities and Policies

    This project is designed to assemble a team of agricultural economists and chemical engineers to develop lifecycle energy, environmental, and economic biocomplexity accounting for major biomass pathways; adapt an existing national forest and agriculture-sector model to analyze biomass pathways and how they are affected by alternative levels of greenhouse gas prices in competition with traditional agriculture and forestry production; develop an environmental-biocomplexity analysis to establish an understanding of the dynamic interplay between biomass for energy (BE) production/utilization and the global ecosystem; develop information on technical innovations and contemplated policy actions regarding CRP, forested lands, fuel composition regulations, and other policies; utilize the sector model to examine the sensitivity of the portfolio to possible technological and policy changes; and document and create a Web site containing findings and models others can use.

14. Sebesta, Blomberg & Associates, Inc. (Roseville, MN) - Biomass Cogeneration Demonstration Plant at Central Minnesota Ethanol Cooperative

    The project team will construct an innovative biorefining facility by integrating the CMEC plant with Primenergy's gasifiers and a steam turbine that will combust syrup waste to coproduce power and steam. The team will also consider as fuel: forest and agricultural residues from neighboring forests, logging operations, sawmills, and corn farms. The demonstration plant will provide the basis for accelerating the deployment of gasification-based electricity and heat generation so that biomass power plants can be built and integrated into ethanol plants.

15. T.R. Miles Technical Consultants, Inc. (Portland, OR) - Feasibility of an Integrated System for Improving the Economic and Environmental Performance of Poultry and Ethanol Production in North Alabama

    The objective of this project is to assess the feasibility of an integrated ethanol and poultry production (IPEP) system in north Alabama that uses poultry litter as an alternative source of process energy for corn/ethanol production and is projected to improve the overall economic and environmental performance of both ethanol and poultry production. The technical and economic feasibility of an IPEP system in north Alabama will be assessed considering the following site-specific factors: (1) the competing price of natural gas; (2) cost of converting poultry litter to thermal energy and ash feed supplement or fertilizer; (3) the delivered cost of poultry litter; (4) the value of poultry litter ash for use in poultry feed and fertilizers; (5) renewable energy incentives; (6) the value of DDGE for low-level use in poultry diets; (7) ethanol incentives; and (8) transportation costs for corn, ethanol, and DDGE for a corn-ethanol plant located in a concentrated poultry area versus locations closer to primary corn supplies. The expected outcome of the proposed project is to provide the necessary documentation for a project developer to develop a business plan and acquire financing for commercialization of an IPEP system in north Alabama.

In 2000, Maryland residents consumed approximately 1,280 trillion Btu of energy.¹ Petroleum accounted for about 43 percent of total consumption. Other major energy sources were coal, natural gas, and nuclear; these sources accounted for about 24, 17, and 11 percent of the state's total energy consumption, respectively.² Biomass use in the state consisted of 35.8 trillion Btu of wood used in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors³ and 69,000 barrels (2.6 million gallons) of ethanol used in the transportation sector.⁴

The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), a group that advises the Governor of Maryland and supports energy efficiency, carries out several activities related to biomass use. MEA consults with counties about developing landfill gas projects, collaborates with the Maryland Department of Agriculture to evaluate the cost effectiveness of anaerobic digestion and gasification, and works with the Maryland Corn Growers to develop E85 fueling stations.⁵

One of MEA's recent efforts is a project at the University of Maryland's Wye Research and Education Center aimed at using switchgrass as a fuel to provide heat to a barn. The project's goal is to determine the potential for the use of small-scale combustion projects using biomass fuel. The project team encountered difficulties in finding small-scale equipment in the United States and ultimately used equipment made by a British manufacturing company. The team projects a start-up date in late October of this year.⁶

About a year ago, a grassroots effort was responsible for the installation of a 21-ton, 25-foot-tall urban grain silo designed to store corn to be used to heat local homes in Takoma Park, Maryland. The silo was purchased using a $3,000 grant from American Energy Systems in Hutchinson, Minnesota (which manufactures the stove model most of the silo's users own), a $500 grant from Cornburners, Inc. (the local stove distributor), and a $500 grant from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (a local environmental group). The silo is located at the city's Public Works compound. The corn used in the silo is supplied by farmer Gary Boll of Mt. Airy, Maryland, who offers the co-op members a bulk discount.⁷

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service has a strong presence in Beltsville, Maryland with its BARC (Beltsville Agricultural Research Center) facility. What began as a one-year demonstration project of using B20 (a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel fuel) to fuel the ARS fleet in Beltsville quickly became a permanent policy wherein all 150 diesel-powered vehicles are now fueled with B20. The change required no modifications to the vehicles.⁸

In addition to its use of B20, the BARC facility also features a dairy herd of 150 cows housed in a free stall barn. Waste from these cows is processed by an anaerobic digester to create energy.⁹

Maryland residents who use wood or "refuse-derived" fuel to heat their homes are eligible for a sales tax exemption.¹⁰ Residents can also take advantage of incentives designed to benefit users of varied forms of renewable energy, including the Clean Energy Incentive Act--which offers sales tax exemptions and income tax credits to those who purchase qualifying appliances, vehicles, and energy systems--and Mainstay Energy's reward program--which offers customers with installed renewable energy systems the opportunity to sell the renewable energy credits associated with the energy the systems produce.¹¹

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