Lexington, KY - A new partnership between Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) and General Atomics (GA), a leader in energy research and defense manufacturing, could pave the way for Kentucky to become a world leader in biofuels production.
The project will create the EKU Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (CRAFT) where researchers will examine the potential for a cellulose-derived biodiesel industry here.
EKU President Doug Whitlock said the project is important to Kentucky's farmers looking for cash crops to replace tobacco as well as making Kentucky a leader in an emergent technology.
"Alternative fuels are going to be a real focus of the Obama administration and for Kentucky, this is a chance to be on the front, cutting edge of a technology that holds a good deal of promise as a source of alternative energy," he said. "It's also exciting for Kentucky farmers. Tobacco is still around but it's not the king of agriculture that it once was so this is an opportunity for life after tobacco."
The state has been on the forefront of alternative fuel production over the past few years with ethanol and biodiesel facilities in western Kentucky. However, the use of food stocks such as corn has drawn criticism as grain prices have risen sharply over the past year. As much as a third of the nation's corn crop has been going into ethanol production, helping to drive up prices thus creating higher input costs for livestock producers in particular.
Cellulose is a common organic compound found in a variety of plants. The idea of the project is to find the right types of biomass containing cellulose that could be used to create biofuel efficiently through the growth and use of algae, as well as defining a plan to start up the industry.
There are a number of different sources the research will look at, according to Dr. Bruce Pratt, chair of EKU's Department of Agriculture. Those could include corn fodder, wheat stubble, switch grass, and wood products such as wood chips, saw dust and bark. "We'll take a number different sources of biomass that are high in cellulose and digest that cellulose with an enzyme that will release the sugars in them. We'll take those sugars and use them as a heat source for algae and grow it in vats," said Pratt. "The algae will be fed the sugars and other nutrients they need to grow and multiply."
Pratt added that these specialized strains of algae have a very high content of oil, some much as 60 percent of their body mass. The algae is harvested and the oil is extracted and can then be converted in biodiesel.
While EKU will identify and develop baseline agricultural and economics data, GA will take the lead in designing a processing facility and establish an economic model for the processing plant to be used for guiding the developmental work. A pilot facility is planned for Clark County.
While the diversity of the Kentucky landscape is likely to produce multiple sources of biomass suitable for the project, what works in the Bluegrass region may not work in the western part of the state, thus creating the need to focus on a number of things, said Pratt. He also said the project will work to minimize the impact on both the livestock industry and the human food chain.
Pratt feels the project will also be beneficial to the environment "Realistically, we will probably be pulling more carbon out of the environment, so there will be less of that going into the atmosphere," he said.
Over the long term, Pratt said that taking this project from the beginning stage to normal production could realistically take between five and seven years, with the possibility of producing 50 million gallons a year.
"We are very excited by this opportunity to work together with EKU to develop and deploy a technology that we believe has great economic, environmental and strategic potential," said Bill Davison, GA's vice president for the group doing biofuels development programs.
The announcement of the project came in December at the Capitol with a room full of state officials on hand including U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and Governor Steve Beshear. It was Chandler that secured most of the funding for the project, which was contained in H.R. 2638, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009 that became law on September 30, 2008.
"I am thrilled that I was able to secure $4 million of federal money to make alternative fuel production in Kentucky a reality - creating jobs, and giving Kentucky, especially Eastern Kentucky University, the opportunity to be a national leader in the field," Chandler said.
During the press conference announcing the project, Beshear said, "It is vital that we examine innovative, long-term solutions to the energy issues we face. Due in part to our fertile farms, Kentucky has the ability to greatly contribute to the research and development of alternative fuel sources. I am pleased that General Atomics sees as much potential in our state as President Whitlock and I do."
Whitlock said the opportunity for EKU faculty to interact in research with scientists from General Atomics is a great resource for the school and will benefit students in meaningful ways.
"It is hard, I think, to overestimate the importance of this project to Eastern Kentucky University. I have every confidence that the results are going to be positive," he said.