Lexington, KY - If the country is to find the Holy Grail of biofuels in our efforts to lessen dependency on foreign oil, it will surely take a marriage between the energy and agriculture sectors -
at least that's what the state is banking on.
There are a variety of projects across Kentucky being implemented to find just the right combination of biomass and high tech research to produce those biofuels or create the right supplement to complement existing fuel sources.
The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board (KADB) awarded Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) a $220,000 grant for "evaluation of biofuel feedstock forages for livestock consumption and biofuel production," according to information from the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP).
The EKU project, which kicked off last December by way of a $4 million federal grant, looks to find the right types of biomass containing cellulose that could be used to create biofuel efficiently through the growth and use of algae. Essentially, the research looks at different sources of biomass that are high in cellulose, which would be digested with an enzyme that will release the sugars within the cellulose. The sugar will be used as a heat source for algae that would be grown in vats. These specialized strains of algae have a very high content of oil. The algae would be harvested and the oil extracted and ultimately converted to fuel.
"This grant will provide funds to investigate the establishment of feed stocks like switch grass and Miscanthus," said Don Llewellyn of the EKU Department of Agriculture. "But there is such a long-term commitment of land, labor and financial resources by the farmers, we have to know the most efficient way to establish the crops, and then we need to know from the farmers' standpoint what value do these crops have before a full-fledged, algae-based cellulosic-based industry comes to fruition."
Finding the right fuel stock for biofuels research however, is proving to be the critical component in such studies. Case in point: the use of corn for ethanol has become the most popular method of connecting agriculture and energy. But using nearly one-third of the nation's corn crop for fuel production has driven the price of corn up, a scenario that is good for corn producers but has proven to be detrimental for livestock producers, who depend on the crop to feed their animals.
Not only will Llewellyn's research benefit the energy factor of the project, but he's looking for ways to help farmers get the most from their efforts.
"On the animal nutrition side, I'm going to look at dual use of these bio-mass crops to see what feed value they have for livestock if there is a surplus or if the demand in an emerging market isn't high enough to take all of the biomass to start with," he said. "There's going to be a transition into this industry, so the farmer is going to want to know, if they establish this, what kind of uses they can have for this in that transitional phase."
Llewellyn also said another thing his research will look at is the possibility of using the byproducts left over from the algae after the oils are extracted to see if it would be suitable as livestock feed or feed supplements.
"When I wrote this grant, I did it in such a way that it was absolutely applicable to the farmers of Kentucky, because that's what the ag development board wants to do: give answers and solutions to the farmers," he said. "Dual use of biomass sources is directly applicable to the agriculture industry in Kentucky."
If all goes according to plans, this project could lead to a processing facility located in Clark County that would produce approximately 50 million gallons of fuel a year. The beginning stages of research looked at the availability of enough biomass to support such an economically sized plant. Through a biomass survey, it has been determined that indeed the potential exists within a 50-mile radius of that proposed facility, according to Llewellyn.
"If this technology is feasible at the one plant, then this model could be used to regionalize the fuel system across the state of Kentucky," he said. "You could have several plants, each having their own sources of biomass in a defined radius. The model could also be expanded on a national scale as well."
Not only will the research look at dedicated crops like switch grass or Miscanthus, but it will also look at the possibility of using crop residues such as corn stover, wheat straw or wood waste.
Estimates on when production could begin are hard to define at this point with funding just coming in and so many components to factor into the project, added Llewellyn.
"There is no one discipline that can do this whole thing. We all have our little pieces to the puzzle," he said. "For instance, agriculturally, we will grow the crop, then we have to have the biochemistry of breaking down the cellulose, then we have to have microbiologists that are experts with the algae. We have to have chemical engineers to take the oil that comes from the algae and refine that into the fuel, so we've got all of these steps that have to go on."
As a teaching resource, the project is also proving to be invaluable to undergraduate students. Llewellyn is using those students to help conduct the research, something he said will assist greatly once those students are in the job market.
The biomass survey has nearly been completed and results will be submitted for publication within the next few weeks, said Llewellyn.
Kentucky agri-energy gets big federal boost
Whatever turns out to be the answer to the biofuels quandary, it's for certain a boatload of money will be needed to conduct all the research necessary to achieve such a task.
State farmers recently saw one of those ships come in by way of $2 million worth of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds.
The announcement came on September 16 in Shelby County at the Langley Farm and will help in financing on-farm energy conservation, renewable energy production and regional renewable fuel projects. The farm is owned and operated by Doug Langley, Kentucky's 2009 Farmer of the Year.
The stimulus money will be used to implement two energy-related programs as part of a partnership between the Energy and Environment Cabinet and the GOAP.
Information from the ag policy office noted that one portion of those funds will provide opportunities for Kentucky farm families to increase farm energy efficiency and renewable fuel production through the KADB's County Agricultural Investment Program. The remainder of funds will be used for the Multi-County Collaborative Agricultural Energy Initiatives Program and will "complement tobacco settlement funds for grants to multi-county collaborations that will enhance and advance renewable energy production at the farm level."