BioFuels Journal

The following Sun Grant Initiave awards were presented this year from the North Central SGI Region, South Dakota State University:

• Sustainable Cropping Systems for Harvesting Corn Stover for Biomass, Ken Moore; Iowa State University (3 year project; $728,074 DOT, $924,652 Total Project).

Objective: Developing a cropping system for growing corn biomass along with a perennial ground cover in order improve the sustainability of utilizing corn stover for bioenergy.

• Develop Sustainable Renewable Energy Systems for Practical Utilization of Bulky Biomass, Roger Ruan; University of Minnesota (4 year project; $945,158 DOT, $1,186,084 Total Project).

Ojective: Development of scalable, thermochemical technologies for converting bulky biomass to products with higher energy density on the farm.

• Diversifying Midwestern biofuel feedstocks: An evaluation of nitrogen-fixing Alnus and Salix germplasm, Stan Hokanson; University of Minnesota (4 year project; $480,744 DOT, $648,884 Total Project).

Ojective: Evaluating and developing woody feedstocks, such as hybrid poplar and hybrid alder, for the North Central Region to augment Cellulosic feedstock production.

• Developing a sustainable feedstock and next-generation processing technologies for biofuels production, Bill Gibbons; South Dakota State University (4 year project; $1,012,243 DOT, $2,231,110 Total Project).

Ojective: Development of prairie cordgrass as a herbaceous feedstock f or marginal lands and biochemical processes to improve its conversion to biofuel and bioproducts.

• Novel Recoverable Enzyme Nanoparticles for Cellulose Hydrolysis Patrick Johnson; University of Wyoming (4 year project; $284,600 DOT, $483,872 Total Project).

Objective: Developing a method to capture and reuse cellulose enzymes to improve ethanol conversion efficiency.