Research technician Nirmal Uppugundla, right, and engineering freshman Ethan Nussdorfer, center, prepare a Janus automated workstation to test a variety of enzymes on a microplate on Tuesday in the MBI Research Lab located on Collins Road. The lab is working to test and convert different types of biomass like grasses into different forms of biofuel like ethanol.
The future of alternative fuels and economic freedom might be as simple as grass clippings and wood chips.
Biomass such as straw, switchgrass and wood chips can be used to produce cellulosic ethanol, a potential replacement to ethanol produced from corn, wheat and rice, said Bruce Dale, associate director of MSU’s Office of Biobased Technologies.
“The payoff from (cellulosic ethanol) is that there is a hundred more times of it than starch,” Dale said. “Another advantage is that it does not compete with food sources.”
Dale said ethanol is more environmentally friendly than gas because it emits less greenhouse gasses and is less damaging to the ecosystem if it is spilled. Economically, he said, it will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
“It is superior to gas in that we can grow it at home,” Dale said. “Sixty percent of our fuel is imported. That’s an enormous shipment of dollars out of the country.
The idea with renewable resources is to grow them at home so we are less susceptible to what I think can be considered economic blackmail.”
Dale said recent research and technological improvements could jump the production of cellulosic ethanol from the hundreds of thousands of gallons to 200 million by the end of 2010.
U.S Department of Energy spokesperson Tom Welch said an emphasis on biorefineries — facilities that convert biomass to produce fuels, power and chemicals — is a department priority.
“We do not want to rely solely on a source that is a food crop,” Welch said.
Part of the problem with using grains for ethanol has involved the depletion of traditional food crops for use as fuel, said J. Roy Black, an agricultural, food and resource economics professor.
He said the attraction of cellulose as an alternative fuel source stems from using other noncompetitive materials, such as switchgrass, as a substitute.
“Part of the focus is food versus fuel,” Black said.
“The process has been to look at some of these grasses that might work on land where common crops are less productive.”
Currently, the production process requires an extra step to break down cellulose into simple sugars so it can be converted to ethanol, Dale said.
The current cost of production keeps cellulosic ethanol from commercial viability, Dale said.
He estimated that it costs about $3 to produce one gallon — $1 more than corn-based ethanol.
“The cost will come down a lot if we develop the supply chains,” Dale said. “We published a paper predicting with the right technology producing cellulosic ethanol would be about $1.50 a gallon.”
Dale said the introduction of the ethanol would be relatively easy because cars already are capable of using ethanol as a form of fuel.
“Gasoline cars have been able to tolerate ethanol for almost 30 years,” he said.
“A lot of companies make something called flex-fuel vehicles that can use up to 85 percent ethanol.”
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