Texas A&M Bioenergy Research Capabilities
for
Sura Bioenergy Meeting
February 27 & 28, 2007
Washington, D.C.
Texas A&M University
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Texas Engineering Experiment Station
Integrated Capabilities
The United States is poised to build a highly productive bioenergy/biofuels industry, and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M University (collectively Texas A&M) are uniquely positioned to provide leadership in this area. By partnering with universities and organizations outside the Texas A&M System our researchers can provide unique discoveries and solutions that will help the Department of Energy meets its bioenergy goals.
Texas A&M has a large capacity to conduct bioenergy and renewable energy research. Well recognized programs are established in the following areas.
Plant systems research
· Genetic selection and increase for elite lines of high-yielding sorghums & other native or introduced grasses
· Molecular biology analysis of sorghums and other grasses for dedicated energy crops
· Analysis of cellulose feedstock composition
Cropping systems research
· Crop modeling to predict sustainable production of biomass
· Analyzing water demands of dedicated energy crops
· Determining the effects of cultural practices on bioenergy crop yields, greenhouse gas emissions, and long-term soil quality and productivity
· Production systems for dedicated bioenergy crops
· Development of efficient harvest, transport, and storage systems
Economic/Policy analysis research
· Economic models for developing probabilistic forecasts of biofuels (including ethanol and biodiesel) that incorporate uncertainty in the markets, federal and state policies, and the economics of producing these renewable fuels
· Economic models of plants to produce renewable fuels, showing the probability of economic success, rates of return to assets and equity, and cash-flow risk, evaluating the optimal relationship between input prices for biomass and output prices for renewable fuels for economic viability of the plants
· Cost analyses of producing renewable fuels from biomass using alternative processes and technologies
· Economic impact analyses to estimate the employment and output multiplier benefits of alternative-energy-source bioenergy plants and industries
· Business plans for new technologies
Chemical Conversion and Processes
· Biofuel processing: densification, sizing, separation, blending
· Bioenergy conversion: biological conversion (fermentation or anaerobic digestion) and thermochemical conversion (pyrolysis, gasification, combustion—cofiring, reburn—or similar processes)
· Energy recovery and utilization
· Coproduct recovery and utilization
· Reduction of emissions (particulate matter, ammonia, volatile organic compounds, and/or losses of carbon-based greenhouse gases)
· Increasing efficiency of mechanical engines and vehicles
· Aerosols research
· Systems integration and optimization
Environmental assessment
· Life-cycle analyses for cradle-to-grave impact of bioenergy technologies
· Climate-change assessment for global impact on the environment of bioenergy technologies, including greenhouse gasses and other pollutants
· Biological process evaluation
· Bioremediation and biodegradation as potential solutions to environmental problems caused by bioenergy technologies
· Water-resource evaluation—crucial because many forms of bioenergy require significant increases in the water used to produce energy
Computational science research
· Bioinformatics research applying math, statistics, and computation to life sciences (genome structures, phylogenetics, protein structure)
· Data mining research to expand knowledge by applying computational methods to extract information from huge volumes of data
· Large-scale simulations for computational-intensive and/or data-intensive research requiring advanced computational resources
Safety and risk assessment research
· Research in facility siting
· Studies in safe boundaries for storage and handling of reactive chemicals
· Research to design systems resilient to potential faults
· Risk and decision analyses
· Research to establish/maintain safety of processes through automation and analysis methods
COMBINED BIOENERGY-RELATED RESEARCH FACILITIES
Bioenergy research and development is supported by numerous laboratories located on the campus of Texas A&M University and at many other locations statewide. A partial listing of these facilities is provided below.
· Sorghum Improvement Laboratory, a sorghum breeding program focused on improving sorghums grown for feed, forage, fuel, and food
· Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology, for plant research and development aspects of bioenergy activities, with bioinstrumentation for plant genomics, bioseparations, and gene manipulation, all geared toward crop improvement (includes greenhouse)
· Bioseparations Laboratory develops bioprocesses for extracting, separating and purifying plant-derived biomolecules, focusing on industrial enzymes and therapeutic proteins produced in transgenic plants systems (corn, rice, sugarcane, tobacco, duckweed)
· Biological Material Properties Laboratory, which determines mechanical and barrier properties of biopolymeric films
· Agricultural Air Quality Center Laboratory, whose research includes determining scientifically-based particulate mass and gas emissions from agricultural facilities and processes and evaluation of mitigation practices
· Wind Tunnels, with facilities ideal for evaluating vehicle design to improve efficiency and for evaluating particulate matter
· Bioenergy Testing and Analysis Laboratory, which develops and tests, improved process efficiencies, product quality standards, by-products, and air-quality emissions (may establish standards for new biofuels)
· Texas Food Safety Engineering Laboratory, which researches food irradiation and energy efficiency (pretreatment of biomass for ethanol production, irradiation thermal-cracking for distillation of heavy oils)
· Laboratory for Sorghum Genome Research, creating platform technologies for genetic and genome scale research on sorghum
· Renewable Energy Laboratory, with a small-scale boiler burner and a gasifier for combustion and emissions research
· Three Air Quality Field Laboratories, which include mobile field equipment for air-quality monitoring at cattle feedlots, dairies, and swine facilities; EPA-approved or industry-standard sampling and analysis equipment for PM10, PM2.5, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and odorous-volatile organic gases; and a weight-drop test chamber for simulating cattle-feedlot dust emissions
· Bioconversion Processes and New Car Engines Laboratory, where researchers are developing a biomass demonstration plant capable of processing 100 tons per day of biomass (facility has laboratory and pilot-plant space)
· Center for Large Scale Scientific Computing, with goals of (1) advancing the state of the art in large-scale scientific simulations and of (2) developing educational programs that will prepare participants for careers in scientific simulation
· Combustion and Fuels Research Laboratory, investigating efficient and clean combustion processes for fuel development, including studies on engine technologies, emissions, and energy
· Food Protein Research and Development Center, with developmental work on oilseed products and processing, specializing in improving yields and quality of oils from refining operations, modification of oil properties, and applications in food products
· Hybrid Vehicles Laboratory, for developing electrical systems (motors and controllers) suitable for hybrid vehicles
· Kinetics/Catalysis Laboratory, which houses equipment to study the kinetics/catalysis process including a fixed-bed isothermal reactor and an APTAC
· Mary K. O’Conner Process Safety Center, which leads the integration of process safety—through education, research, and service—into learning and practice
· Parasol Laboratory, developing algorithmic solutions for problems in areas such as computational biology, motion planning, computational geometry, parallel and distributed computing, and computational science
· SynFuels Pilot Plant, with processing units (plant can produce up to ten barrels a day, operating as a natural gas to liquid facility)