The Quest for the Next Green Biofuel

The request is not necessarily unusual in the world of biotechnology, but rather reflects the fierce competition among companies working to find an alternative to carbon-based coal and oil that also avoids the downsides of corn-based ethanol.

It's a spirited race, says Apfelbach, president and CEO of Virent, which has teamed up with Royal Dutch Shell to convert plant sugars from non-food crops like switchgrass or sugarcane pulp waste into synthetic gasoline that could be a substitute for petroleum-based gasoline: "You can't tell which horse will win."

Ethanol produced from corn kernels has been hailed as the savior that can lead the United States away from global warming and toward energy independence. Gov. Jim Doyle, an enthusiastic supporter, says ethanol is good for the state's economy -- by increasing demand for corn -- and the environment, by reducing heat-trapping gases caused by burning fossil fuels.

And increased ethanol production has had unintended consequences for the world's food supply, as more than one-fourth of the United States' output of corn is now being used to produce ethanol, rather than feed livestock and people. Rising corn prices, driven in part by speculation, along with high oil prices and a drought in Australia, have contributed to soaring food costs and shortages around the globe.

3rd generation biofuel

The search for a new biofuel is in its third iteration, says Timothy Donohue, a professor of bacteriology and the lead scientist at the UW-Madison-based Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

The first generation of biofuel, he says, was the burning of wood to generate heat - an era that lasted millions of years.

"The second generation is converting corn kernel-based sugars into ethanol," he adds. "We are looking for the third generation biofuel."

Last year the University of Wisconsin-Madison overcame stiff competition to snag a $134 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop one of three national research centers aimed at breaking down wood chips, grasses, cornstalks and other plant-based materials into sugars that can be converted into biofuel.

The UW and its partners in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center -- including Michigan State University and Lucigen Corp. in Middleton -- are focusing on several goals, including finding ways to breed plants that can more easily be processed into fuel and identifying and improving enzymes that can better degrade biomass to produce biofuel.

They are also seeking better ways of converting plant material into hydrogen, electricity or other chemicals that can replace fossil fuels.

In all corners of state

Biofuel development efforts outside of Madison are also going strong.

A major project is now under way in Wisconsin Rapids to transform a pulp and paper mill into an integrated forest biorefinery plant. The U.S. Department of Energy has pledged up to $30 million for the NewPage Corp. project, which aims to, among other things, produce a synthetic gas that could be used in place of natural gas.

NewPage also is looking at ways to make liquid transportation fuels from mill residues and unmarketable forest wastes.

"Papermaking is the backbone of the Wisconsin economy, but it is losing jobs," says Masood Akhtar, co-leader of the project. "If you can take the bark-and-wood residue the paper industry is not using in papermaking and generate green power, papermaking costs would be lowered and liquid transportation fuels could be developed to produce more revenue for the mill."

View the Capital Times story by clicking here.

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