In April 2007, ConocoPhillips established an eight year, $22.5 million
research program at Iowa State University (ISU). The initiative, dedicated to
developing technologies that might one day produce biorenewable fuels, was
an important aspect of the company’s stated commitment to diversifying its
energy sources.
One year later, the program has generated promising results. Twenty-six
research projects have been established in the past 12 months with ConocoPhillips providing $1.75 million toward the first 14 research projects. So far in 2008, the company has provided $3 million more to begin another 12 research projects.
Off to a promising start
The 26 projects, being conducted by researchers in 11 departments or programs throughout ISU, working in conjunction with ConocoPhillips researchers, include studies of various biofuel production technologies; technical and economic analyses of different types of biorefineries; production of crops for conversion to biofuels; sustainable growing of crops and biomass; the harvest, storage and transportation of biomass; and the combustion performance of biofuels in engines.
“We have been impressed by the innovation and collaboration at work among
ConocoPhillips and ISU researchers working side by side on the various projects,” said Stephen Brand, ConocoPhillips senior vice president, Technology.
Robert C. Brown, the Iowa Farm Bureau director of the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State, said, “ISU is proud to be working with ConocoPhillips on this important research. This truly is research collaboration. It’s not just a grant to the university.”
Getting a fresh perspective
Iowa State faculty members are being exposed to biorenewable research for the first time, bringing to the program fresh energy and new perspectives. Mark Hargrove, an associate professor of bio chemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, is one such example. Hargrove is studying natural enzymes called cellulosomes that are found in termites and the first stomachs of cows. These enzymes excel at breaking down cellulose from plants. Hargrove is using a ConocoPhillips grant to develop a method to make synthetic cellulosomes that are efficient and easier to
work with than natural cellulosomes.
Robert Horton, a Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture at
ISU, studies how heat, water and chemicals move through the soil. He has been awarded a ConocoPhillips grant to study how various biomass crop systems affect water quality beneath the soil, the carbon content of the soil and carbon dioxide emissions from the soil.
The ConocoPhillips research program also has helped establish new research collaborations for the company and the university. In December 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy selected an Iowa State-ConocoPhillips research project for an award that will allow researchers to design and build a biomass gasification system that produces synthetic diesel fuel.
ConocoPhillips, ISU and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) also recently announced a joint effort to identify the most efficient and cost-effective technologies for converting plant biomass into liquid transportation fuels.
A future built on teamwork
Currently, transportation fuels primarily come from petroleum, corn grain or food crops. The new collaboration between ConocoPhillips, ISU and the NREL will develop conversion technologies that will use cellulosic materials, such as corn stalks, stems, leaves, other nonfood agricultural residues, hardy grasses and fast growing trees as feedstocks for future transportation fuels. The processes that will be examined in this collaboration include gasification, pyrolysis and fermentation.
“We are hopeful that this collaboration will expand the knowledge base and
speed the development of these environmental technologies,” Brand said in
regards to the partnership.
Tom Foust, technology manager for NREL’s National Bioenergy Center, praised the group’s teamwork and readiness to work with one another. “Research cooperation among government, industry and academia is needed to efficiently address the many questions about how to find the best ways to convert biomass to liquid transportation fuels,” he said.
Brown believes the collaboration brings together the best a major energy company, a national energy laboratory and a landgrant university have to offer, playing off each other’s strengths and expertise. “The thermochemical and biochemical conversion of cellulosic biomass into liquid fuels has great promise to be a clean and renewable source of energy that doesn’t compete with our food supply,” he said.
The collaboration could lead to projects that provide publicly available, peerreviewed papers and models. Each party is providing its own time and resources, and the collaboration is expected to produce an initial report by January 2009.
“ConocoPhillips is very pleased with the progress of our joint efforts, and we
commend the university’s commitment to this research,” Brand said.
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