Introduction
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22 June 2007
Frequently Asked Questions
For a definition of terms commonly used in bioenergy discussions, check out our Glossary.
What is bioenergy?
The term “bioenergy” can be used to describe any energy that is derived from plants and other organic materials. These materials, referred to collectively as biomass, can be burned to generate heat or electricity; fermented to create liquid fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol; or converted into high-value chemical compounds that are used to make polymers and plastics.
Is bioenergy new?
Not at all. Burning wood — which people have done for thousands of years — is a form of bioenergy. The fermentation of plant sugars into alcohol-based fuels dates back more than a century. What is new is the effort to expand the variety of feedstocks that can be harnessed to produce bioenergy. Instead of merely converting corn kernels into ethanol, for example, researchers are now trying to find efficient, economical ways to convert plant materials such as grasses, wood chips, crop residues and even organic components of municipal and industrial waste into energy.
What’s the most common source of bioenergy?
Wood. People use wood and wood products for heat and electricity around the world. In the United States, wood is used to create two percent of the total energy produced. Paper mills and pulp manufacturers commonly use wood chips and pulp waste to provide energy for their plants.
Is ethanol a form of bioenergy?
Ethanol, an alcohol-based fuel commonly derived from plant starches and sugars, is one of the most common and fast-growing forms of bioenergy. Currently, more than 100 biorefineries around the United States make ethanol, producing more than 4.8 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006. The amount of ethanol produced in the United States has more than tripled since 2000, and ethanol is now commonly used as an additive to petroleum-based gasoline. More-concentrated biofuels made from ethanol, such as E85, are also increasingly in demand.
In the United States, most ethanol is derived from corn kernels, but in other parts of the world, ethanol is made from sugarcane and crops such as sugar beets. Ethanol can also be made from cellulosic material — the non-digestible parts of plants such as stalks and leaves — although the current processes to do this conversion are inefficient and expensive. Major research efforts are underway to improve these processes.
What are the advantages of making ethanol from cellulose?
Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth, and figuring out how to efficiently convert cellulosic material into ethanol would unlock a huge source of renewable energy. Researchers hope to perfect methods that would allow biorefineries to derive ethanol from agricultural residues such as corn stover (the stalks, leaves and husks of the plant), wheat straw, perennial grasses, and wood pulp — materials that have little use or economic value right now and are often discarded as waste. Fast-growing crops such as poplar trees could also be grown as energy crops, reducing the need to rely on things that humans and animals eat for fuel.
What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be used instead of diesel fuel made from petroleum. Biodiesel can be made from vegetable oils, animal fats or greases. Most biodiesel today is made from soybean oil. It’s also possible to make biodiesel from used oils or fats, including recycled restaurant grease.
Are biofuels better for the environment than fossil fuels?
Yes. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are derived from organic material that lived millions of years ago. When they are pulled up from underground and burned today, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, one of the major factors believed to cause global warming. Biofuels release carbon dioxide, too, but it’s carbon that was absorbed by the plants that make biofuels as they grew, which means that they aren’t releasing new carbon into the atmosphere. Ethanol also reduces carbon monoxide and other toxic emissions created by burning fossil fuels. Replacing petroleum-based diesel with biodiesel created from the fats and oils in plants results in significant reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
Growing, harvesting and processing plants for energy does require energy inputs, such as fertilizer for growing crops, fuel for equipment and water for conversion. Recent studies estimate that the ethanol from corn kernels yields 30 to 50 percent more energy than is required to produce it, a positive net energy balance that continues to improve as ethanol production becomes more efficient. Biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol have even higher net energy balances, which is another reason why many people believe those technologies can augment or supplant ethanol production from corn kernels.
What are the economic advantages of using bioenergy in the place of fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels account for more than 85 percent of energy consumed in the United States each year. To meet its energy needs, the United States must import considerable quantities of petroleum — more than 60 percent of the petroleum used in the nation is imported. Bioenergy can reduce dependence on foreign oil, decreasing the amount of money we spend to import energy and lessening our dependence on politically volatile regions that control a significant share of the world’s crude oil. Producing bioenergy in places where biomass is grown, such as Wisconsin, can create jobs and generate income for local communities. This type of renewable energy builds rural economies and infrastructure for future biofuels. Producing bioenergy in conjunction with animal agriculture can also increase efficiencies and reduce costs for producers and consumers.
Are biofuels economically viable as an alternative to petroleum-based gasoline?
When oil costs $20 a barrel, it can be refined and sold at prices that no biofuel can compete with under present conditions. But higher oil prices make some forms of bioenergy very price competitive. With incentives and farmer subsidies, corn-grain ethanol is economically competitive with gasoline right now. Using current technologies, cellulosic ethanol can not compete on price with gasoline, but most analysts expect the cost of refinement to come down with improved technologies.
Can biofuels replace petroleum-based gasoline?
Given the U.S. consumption of gasoline, it’s not likely that biofuels will ever fully replace petroleum-based gasoline. Currently, around a quarter of the United States’ corn crop goes to the production of ethanol, yet ethanol still constitutes only about two percent of the country’s overall consumption of transportation fuel. Scientists estimate that even if the entire U.S. corn yield were used to make ethanol, it would satisfy only about 10 percent of our vehicle needs.
Cellulosic ethanol would improve the situation. The Department of Energy has estimated that there are more than one billion tons of excess biomass produced in the United States each year, which, if converted to ethanol, could supplant more than 30 percent of the nation’s petroleum consumption. Still although they have enormous potential, biofuels should be considered one piece of a larger strategy — along with conservation, increased energy efficiency of vehicles, and continued expansion of other renewable energy sources — to reduce dependence on non-renewable, non-sustainable energy sources.
21 June 2007
WBI Introductory Interview
Listen to an interview with Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative Director, Tim Donohue from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
20 June 2007
For Industry
*I think this is an exciting project, and I would like to learn more. Who can I talk to?*
Contact Charles Hoslet, Managing Director of the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, to discuss your interests. Based on your company’s profile, he can connect you with the best resources on the UW-Madison campus.
Charles Hoslet
Managing Director
University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Corporate Relations
www.ocr.wisc.edu
hoslet@ocr.wisc.edu
(608) 263-2840
*What is the collaborators’ network at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Center?*
The GLBRC collaborators’ network will make the center’s sciences available to businesses and organizations involved in biofuels research, development and utilization. Members are chosen for their technical role in a particular biofuels niche. The executive director of the center, Kenneth Keegstra, will be responsible for recruitment of members and communicating between the network and the center’s researchers.
*What is the GLBRC’s scientific advisory board?*
This is a group of distinguished scientists who will provide external guidance on the past and future activities of the GLBRC. These individuals will provide objective strategic and technical oversight to both focus the research agenda and align center’s priorities with those of our stakeholders. Timothy Donohue, scientific director, will recruit and manage this body.
*How will I learn of innovations resulting from the work of the GLBRC?*
Once the center is up and running, the GLBRC plans to bring bioenergy concepts to people of different scientific expertise. Staff will work through an outreach and education office set up in the GLBRC to communicate scientific results and innovations. Results will be communicated in scientific journals and other scientific and popular press outlets. GLBRC staff will also provide programs on bioenergy concepts for K-12 teachers and students, museums and other public venues.
19 June 2007
Areas of Focus
In the United States and around the world, agricultural and forestry activities create considerable excess plant biomass that has little or no economic value and are often discarded as waste. These feedstocks, such as corn stalks, wood chips and other plant materials, contain energy in the form of sugars, which could be used to create new sources of sustainable, renewable energy.
The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) will advance these goals through five areas of research:
Improved plant biomass. The inability of many plants to store carbon-rich hydrocarbons, as well as difficulties in breaking down cell walls in plants, present barriers to using biomass for bioenergy production. Increasing hydrocarbons in plants and strategies to more easily degrade cell walls are long-term goals of the GLBRC for improving plant biomass.
Biomass processing. Efficiently converting plant biomass to sugars is a major challenge to the economical production of bioenergy products. To remove this bottleneck, new treatments are needed for processing feedstocks such as corn stover, switchgrass or wood chips. In this area, the long-term goal of the GLBRC will be to develop new physical and biological ways to process plant biomass.
Bioconversion. To improve how we convert biomass into energy products, the GLBRC will explore solutions to easily convert plant-derived chemicals to bioenergy compounds. The long-term goals of the GLBRC are to improve methods for converting biomass into ethanol and to develop ways to convert plant material into hydrogen, electricity or other chemical feedstocks that can replace fossil fuels.
Development of a sustainable bioenergy economy. For a bioenergy economy to positively impact the United States, we must address complex issues in agricultural, industrial, environmental and behavioral systems. Within this area, the GLBRC will take a holistic approach to evaluating the economic and environmental sustainability of transforming biomass to biofuel.
Enabling technologies. This focus crosses all areas of research, creating the tools that make it possible to integrate new technologies into bioenergy research. The center’s success depends on sharing the biological, physical and computational research that enable biomass production, processing, conversion and sustainability.
19 June 2007
From the Director
The Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative is a public-private partnership that aims to showcase and build on the UW System’s considerable efforts in bioenergy research, outreach and training, and to foster state and local efforts to attract and support companies working in the bioenergy sector. We’re convinced that the WBI will bolster rural economies as it sparks new opportunities for Wisconsin agriculture and the many companies that rely on it for their success.WBI has developed partnerships in the educational, industrial, and public sectors. This initiative will serve as a point of coordination for bioenergy activities between colleges at all of the UW campuses and state agencies. In addition, various faculty members have long standing partnerships with industrial partners.
The WBI was created in response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement that it will invest $250 million in two new multidisciplinary bioenergy research and technology development centers. DOE is asking for proposals to host the multidisciplinary centers, which will conduct comprehensive, integrated research and training programs in energy-related systems and synthetic biology. Clearly the UW-System is a perfect fit for a DOE bioenergy research center. The UW System has hundreds of faculty, staff and students working on projects related to bioenergy in disciplines that encompass biology, agriculture, engineering, natural resources and the social sciences. UW scientists across the state are generating new knowledge that will help expand our potential to harness microbial and plant systems for cost-effective renewable energy production.
Governor Jim Doyle recently unveiled a proposal to invest $450 million in public and private funds — including $85 million in state funding — in development of renewable fuel sources to help the nation achieve energy independence.
Although much of our effort at this early stage has revolved around the DOE request for proposals, it is important to make sure our work also includes important economic assessment, modeling, and social sciences aspects of transforming our landscape and economy to this new world.
Ultimately, we hope to demonstrate to other funding partners both public and private that UW is the center of activity and worthy of increased investment.
CALS Dean Molly Jahn
14 June 2007
SHOWCASING WISCONSIN’S INVESTMENT IN BIOENERGY RESEARCH
The Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative is a public-private partnership that aims to showcase and build on the UW System’s considerable efforts in bioenergy research, outreach and training, and to foster state and local efforts to attract and support companies working in the bioenergy sector. We’re convinced that the WBI will bolster rural economies as it sparks new opportunities for Wisconsin agriculture and the many companies that rely on it for their success.
WBI has developed partnerships in the educational, industrial, and public sectors. This initiative will serve as a point of coordination for bioenergy activities between colleges at all of the UW campuses and state agencies. In addition, various faculty members have long standing partnerships with industrial partners.
The WBI was created in response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement that it will invest $250 million in two new multidisciplinary bioenergy research and technology development centers. DOE is asking for proposals to host the multidisciplinary centers, which will conduct comprehensive, integrated research and training programs in energy-related systems and synthetic biology. Clearly the UW-System is a perfect fit for a DOE bioenergy research center. The UW System has hundreds of faculty, staff and students working on projects related to bioenergy in disciplines that encompass biology, agriculture, engineering, natural resources and the social sciences. UW scientists across the state are generating new knowledge that will help expand our potential to harness microbial and plant systems for cost-effective renewable energy production.
Governor Jim Doyle recently unveiled a proposal to invest $450 million in public and private funds — including $85 million in state funding — in development of renewable fuel sources to help the nation achieve energy independence.
Although much of our effort at this early stage has revolved around the DOE request for proposals, it is important to make sure our work also includes important economic assessment, modeling, and social sciences aspects of transforming our landscape and economy to this new world.
Ultimately, we hope to demonstrate to other funding partners both public and private that UW is the center of activity and worthy of increased investment.
