Funding these programs is important to Michigan as well, said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton.

“During the last seven years, I’ve been supportive of MSU’s research, and agriculture is a very important part of that,” Rogers said. “It is important to invest in that kind of next-generation technology, but jobs as well.”

The research also will help the state’s economy, he said.

“We’ve seen a lot of spin-off companies come out of MSU – green chemical companies, biomass companies,” Rogers said. “These are companies that are based on the success the federal government invests in MSU.”

Much of the money will go to fund wood utilization, which will create new materials from difficult-to-sell wood.

“Here in Michigan, we have a lot of trees that are hardwood,” said Laurent Matuana, an associate professor of forestry and one of the principle investigators for wood utilization. “They don’t have a lot of commercial value. With this grant, we are trying to develop materials, such as building materials, to add value to these.”

Another field wood utilization deals with is the development of biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol.

“We’re trying to make biofuel from cellulose,” Matuana said. “This grant is going to help us to do a lot of research as to how to make biofuel. With wood utilization, we can develop trees that are resistant to disease or trees to make the biofuel conversion easier.”

Michigan and MSU are prime candidates to receive the research money, Rogers said.

“We’re blessed with a large forest footprint,” he said. “It’s renewable and fits in well with their research into alternative fuels. It makes sense for the best research to take place close to products we hope to use.”

Cellulosic ethanol is fuel that can be made from wood waste. Last month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Michigan would be home to the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant built by Mascoma Corp., a Massachusetts-based biotech firm.

MSU’s research helped bring the company to Michigan, Rogers said.

“It’s a great fit because of the talent that’s at MSU,” he said. “A company like that just doesn’t show up.”

However, MSU will not be exclusively receiving all $6.3 million set aside for wood utilization research, said Kyung-Hwan Han, an associate professor of forestry.

MSU is part of a 10-state cooperative research project, and the money will be divvied up among the other members of the project.

Though wood utilization is receiving the most funding, other programs are important, Matuana said.

“It’s a team,” he said. “We have people with gene background, material science, economic background. ... We’re not just working on one subject but focusing on multiple things.”