Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

Not if, but whenThe director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center tells Keith Regan that itÔÇÖs only a matter of time before the key is found to creating transportation biofuels out of grasses and trees. The current crop of biofuels generates more than its share of heated debate. Created from the sugars in corn and soy, the existing version of ethanol puts transportation needs in competition with food supplies.  While there is no consensus in the scientific or political community about the real effects that ethanol generation has on food prices or availability, there is a belief that finding other sources of biofuels would open the door to enormous economic benefits. That next generation of liquid transportation fuels may well come from common grasses and trees, but so far the technology to extract the fuel-generating sugars from those plant materials on a large-scale and cost-effective basis doesnÔÇÖt exist. Dr. Tim Donohue, the director of the Department of EnergyÔÇôfunded Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), believes itÔÇÖs only a matter of time before that changes, and when it does, a massive new economic engine could be unleashed. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs definitely a question of when and not if,ÔÇØ he says. The GLBRC is one of three nationwide Bioenergy Research Centers to receive five-year grants from the Department of Energy in 2007 to focus on developing the science and technology needed to efficiently and cost-effectively convert more non-food plant stocks into liquid transportation fuel. If the centers succeed, the door could be opened to an entire array of new feedstocks for fuels, including fast-growing grasses and trees that can be grown in areas that are not necessarily well-suited for traditional agriculture, as well as corn stoverÔÇöthe non-food part of the corn plant. The GLBRC is based at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and includes several partners, including Michigan State University, the Pacific Northwest National Lab, the University of Florida, Iowa State University and Illinois State University, as well as a local private company, Lucigen Corporation. The center was chartered in September 2007 after the team of collaborators was tapped for the five-year grant program, which includes up to $125 million over that time frame. Donohue says the center is deploying an interdisciplinary team of plant biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, agronomists, chemical and civil engineers, organic chemists, mathematicians and computer scientists to attack the bottlenecks preventing cellulose fibers from being converted into fuel. As a sugar, cellulose evolved to be an insoluble fiber, meaning the sugar components are more difficult to release than in starch-based feedstocks such as corn. Scientists are using genomics to target how plants develop the protections against the cellulose breakdown while developing processes for getting at those sugars that are both economically viable and environmentally sustainable. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre trying to crack the cellulose code by determining how it is made in model systems. Once we understand that, we hope to be able to translate that knowledge to the bioenergy plants of tomorrow, which may be trees, grasses, corn and could include tobacco, depending upon the part of the country youÔÇÖre in,ÔÇØ Donohue says. The team was assembled to take an integrated approach, leveraging the expertise of the various scientific disciplines, with strong coordination among teams so that each group knows what others are working on. Weekly conference calls help keep everyone up to date on the science being done, and annual retreats serve as chances for both formal presentations on progress being made as well as more informal discussions about the direction of the research.┬á┬á Coordination also includes the other two bioenergy facilitiesÔÇöone in the Bay Area of California, known as the Joint BioEnergy Institute, and the BioEnergy Science Center based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The centers also give regular updates to the Department of Energy, and Donohue recently traveled to Washington, DC, as part of a delegation that updated Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on research efforts. ÔÇ£This effort is a long-term strategic initiative of the Department, and they remain committed to seeing it through to success,ÔÇØ Donohue says. Meanwhile, the centers are strongly focused on getting technology to a point where it can be quickly transferred to the private sector.At the GLBRC, that coordination with the private sector began before the grant was even in place, with discussions meant to ensure that the scientific research work remained focused on ways to yield commercial solutions. The centers also have procedures in place for technology transfer, patent applications and related work. Donohue says solutions to the various bottlenecks will take time to develop, with some arriving earlier than others. For instance, new approaches to breaking down and converting complex sugars into fuels could happen ÔÇ£reasonably rapidly,ÔÇØ while longer-range work such as developing genomic techniques for breeding plant types that will yield their sugars more readily will likely take longerÔÇöin part because they will require more regulatory approvals and take longer to bring to commercial scale. Still, he firmly believes all the centerÔÇÖs work is moving along with an appropriate level of urgency. Donohue says outreach and raising public awareness of the work being done is a key part of the GLBRCÔÇÖs mission. That outreachÔÇöalong with continued pressure on traditional petroleum-based transportation fuel suppliesÔÇöshould in turn help ensure political support remains in place for the funding to continue as the work evolves. ÔÇ£The train has left the station,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs still early. The station is still in the rear-view mirror, but with the team of people we have and with this funding, itÔÇÖs clearly a matter of time before we are able to develop solutions. The biofuels economy could be of enormous size and enormous importance to the countryÔÇÖs long-term energy independence. With that as the goal, I donÔÇÖt see any slowing down as we move forward.ÔÇØ ┬á