Buying Biomass

Chuck Zimmerman

Sarah BrechbillOkay. This is the last one for today. But there’s more to come tomorrow.

Sarah Brechbill, Purdue University, got to put her masters degree project on the stage today here at the Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. She looked at the cost to get biomass to a plant and specifically looked at switchgrass and corn stover.

She says that there’s really no one answer to what’s best for everyone. However, she did find that corn stover was generally cheaper. One reason is that it’s already being grown.

You can listen to my interview with Sarah here: ff-bio-08-brechbill.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Cellulosic Flavonoids

Chuck Zimmerman

Danielle Julie CarrierWe hear a lot about co-products with ethanol production like the DDGS but what about in cellulosic ethanol production? Well, Danielle Julie Carrier, Arkansas State University is doing work on that subject.

I was very interested to hear that there are some possibilities. She’s working with switchgrass and they’ve found that if you wash the feedstock prior to the pre-treatment for ethanol production that you get a water mix with flavonoids which help reduce bad cholesterol. Co-products like this have potential and may help make the production of cellulosic ethanol more attractive.

You can listen to my interview with Julie here: ff-bio-08-carrier.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Adding Peas To Corn For Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Abhishek GoelI know you’re getting a healthy dose of biofuels here on AgWired today but it all has to do with agriculture and rural America so I hope you’re enjoying it. I’ve been learning a lot, including just how much work the Farm Foundation does.

During our last session of the day here at the Farm Foundation, Transition To A Bio Economy Conference, our speakers talked about some feedstock and co-product issues of ethanol production. First up was Abhishek Goel, North Dakota State University. He did work on using dry peas to supplement corn in an ethanol plant. The idea was to reduce supply risk and increase profitability.

He says that in North Dakota corn supply is variable and since the state is the biggest producer of dry peas it seemed like a natural place to start. The work was done in 2007 and although prices have certainly changed he believes there are opportunities to supplement corn with other feedstock options.

You can listen to my interview with him here: ff-bio-08-goel.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

More On Ethanol Plant Location

Chuck Zimmerman

David PerkisOn the subject of locating a biorefinery we had another presentation on the subject here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. This one was by David Perkis, Purdue University.

He says the purpose of his work is to answer questions that local decision makers have such as, Where to locate plants?, What do we have to prepare for?, What can we do to entice a plant to our area? and Do we have a chance? He says that factors in having an optimal location for an ethanol plant is access to sufficient corn stover and transportation distances.

You can listen to my interview with David here: ff-bio-08-perkis.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Where To Locate Your Ethanol Plant

Chuck Zimmerman

Lance Andrew StewartBesides those out working in the industry we also heard from some university students today at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. Lance Andrew Stewart is a grad student at the University of Tennessee. He did a very technical presentation on locating ethanol plants.

His work focused on the location determinants that attract potential plants in certain areas. He says that factors include, access to feedstocks like corn and locating away from an existing plant. He also made a point of saying that although plants can be very helpful to a rural community they must have enough infrastructure to support one.

You can listen to my interview with Lance here: ff-bio-08-stewart.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation

USDA Rural Development Biofuels Assistance

Chuck Zimmerman

Tony CrooksWe had USDA Rural Development represented here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference by Tony Crooks. He works with their rural business cooperatives program and has done a lot of work with communities in the area of ethanol and biodiesel.

The challenge he says we have today in rural communities is the large capital outlay to get a biorefinery started so USDA is looking at creative ways to help them. He highly suggests that a community have a community development plan so they can better decide if a plant would be in their best interest. Ways that USDA Rural Development can help is with grants and guaranteed loans. He says they’re looking for communities who need financial assistance, especially in the second generation cellulosic area.

You can listen to my interview with Tony here: ff-bio-08-crooks.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation, USDA

Energy BioSciences Institute Working on Solutions

Chuck Zimmerman

Paul WillemsOur luncheon speaker today was Paul Willems who works for BP Energy Biosciences Institute. He says it’s a collaboration between the University of California, Berkely, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois and BP.

Paul says that their mission is to apply modern biology towards energy problems. The Institute was started in November of 2007 and is currently almost 70 percent staffed. They’ve already committed funding to about 50 projects and programs. Some examples of these programs include feedstock research and the discovery of new enzymes.

One of Paul’s key messages was not to get carried away with problems since solutions will take a while to achieve.

You can listen to my interview with Paul here: ff-bio-08-willems.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation

R&D Risk in Renewable Fuels

Chuck Zimmerman

Gordon RausserTwo key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels.

Our presenter was Gordon Rausser, University of California, Berkeley, who was here with his assistant Maya Papineau. I interviewed them both together after the presentation. Gordon says that we should be looking at R&D risk as a portfolio of opportunities. He says we should be managing the overall risk by recognizing the inter-relationships among the technologies and their ultimate commercialization. He also says that stand alone analysis will miss much of the opportunities that will arise.

When it comes to flexibility he suggests giving yourself options so that you can take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. He says that current ethanol plants are vulnerable going forward since they don’t have the flexibility to move to different feedstocks.

Maya talked about probably breakthroughs in renewable energy technology. She says that it’s important for how you use public and private R&D resources to maximize the investment.

You can listen to my interview with Gordon and Maya here: ff-bio-08-rausser.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation, Research

Switchgrass Risks

Chuck Zimmerman

Jim LarsonThe second session here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference was on risk and uncertainty.

Jim Larson, University of Tennessee, talked about farmers risk in growing switchgrass as a biomass feedstock for fuel production. He says that this is a commodity that will come into play looking forward. His research shows that it’s risky for farmers because it’s difficult to establish and takes several years to get to full yield. He thinks that farmers will need incentives from biomass processors to get started.

Harvesting this crop is also risky since you have to deal with large amounts of material that’s subject to weather and storage concerns. Some ways to help with risk would be contracting and price guarantees.

You can listen to my interview with Jim here: ff-bio-08-larson.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation

Getting Down To The Farm Level

Chuck Zimmerman

John MiranowskiOne of our speakers here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference brought the discussion down to the farm level. John Miranowski, Iowa State University, spoke about the impact of biofuels on the rural economy and the farm structure.

He says that their numbers indicate that increasing biofuels production will have a positive impact on rural communities and farm structure up to a point but that it could have some negative impacts. One thing is certain, he sees an uncertain future for biofuels.

However, even with the uncertainty, he thinks the industry will make a go of it because of an increased demand for fuel. As far as where we’re going, he sees a bigger role for corn and corn stover fuels given the RFS and that this is one area where we have an ability to increase productivity while decreasing environmental impact concerns.

You can listen to my interview with John here: ff-bio-08-miranowski.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

I’m also uploading pictures to a photo album which you can feel free to use if you’d like: Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation