Des Moines Register
08-27-06
Exotic biomass research takes root in Iowa
Scientists study crops that could produce alternative fuels while protecting the
environment.
By JERRY PERKINS
REGISTER FARM EDITOR
Napier, Ia. - The face of Iowa and its 25 million acres of crops may look much
different in the not-so-distant future.
Instead of a landscape dominated by ramrod straight corn plants and groundhunkering soybeans, new crops such as miscanthus, kenaf and triticale might
cover the state as they do on 50 acres at an Iowa State University research farm
in eastern Boone County.
The new crops, and old standbys like corn and sorghum, are being studied to
see if they can produce fuel and industrial products, protect the environment, and
provide new sources of income for Iowa farmers.
Record oil prices are fueling interest in the new crops.
If researchers find the right crops, they believe "biorefineries" using plants
instead of oil will spring up around the state and turn Iowa into the Corn Belt
equivalent of Saudi Arabia.
"We're on a new edge of agricultural production," said Matt Liebman, professor
of agronomy at Iowa State. "We're not just being asked to provide food and
feed with our crops anymore. We're being asked to produce industrial products.
We're looking at a completely new world."
That new world will be examined Monday and Tuesday when more than 500
people gather for the "Biobased Industry Outlook Conference: Growing the
Bioeconomy" at the Scheman Center on the ISU campus.
The focus of the conference is "re-imagining agriculture for food, feed, energy."
That's also the focus of research at the ISU research farm west of Ames.
The transformation of Iowa's landscape by biomass crops is years away, ISU's
researchers say.
For now, rising production of ethanol is increasing the demand for corn, and Iowa
grows more corn than any other state. But farmers could never produce enough
to replace petroleum.
More plentiful plants - including crop waste and prairie grasses that once covered
Iowa - could produce more energy more cheaply, scientists believe. They could
also have environmental benefits.
Corn is a big user of petroleum-based fertilizers, which can pollute waterways,
and both corn and soybeans require fossil fuels and petroleum-based chemicals
for planting, cultivating, harvesting and storage.
In addition, in the five months between harvest and planting, much of Iowa's crop
ground lies idle and vulnerable to wind and water erosion.
If crops like triticale can be planted as cover crops after harvest and before
planting, they can prevent wind and water erosion.
In addition, the cover crop will soak up solar energy that would otherwise fall on
barren ground, and convert it to plant matter that can be used in a biorefinery.
"This research is all coming together in a way I've never seen before," Liebman
said.
Kenneth Moore, a professor in Iowa State's agronomy department, said it will
take time to show which biomass crops will work in the field and in the refinery.
But, he said, all the attention now being focused on substituting crops for
petroleum has sparked support for long-term research projects.
"That's why all this interest in biomass is so rewarding," Moore said.
Many barriers stand in the way of the new world of agriculture.
The technology needed to economically convert cellulose, or plant matter, into
energy and industrial products will take years to develop, industry and
government officials say.
Huge amounts of capital will be needed to build biorefineries so there is a market
for the new crops.
And harvesting, transporting and storing bulky biomass crops is much different
from doing the same to grains of corn.
Massive quantities of switchgrass and other biomass crops will be needed to
power biorefineries, said Stuart Birrell, an assistant professor in agricultural and
biosystems engineering at ISU. The crops can be transported only a short
distance and still be economically viable for use in a biorefinery, he said.
Robert Anex, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at
ISU, said that there are ways to get around these problems and that the research
at Iowa State is helping find solutions.
"The economics (of biomass crops) are only going to get better, if you believe oil
prices aren't going to go down," Anex said.
Farm Editor Jerry Perkins can be reached at (515) 284-8456 or
jperkins@dmreg.com
'Growing the Bioeconomy' conference
NO MORE ROOM: Registration for the two-day conference has exceeded 500
people, said Jill Euken, industrial specialist at Iowa State Extension, one of the
conference organizers, and no more registrations are being accepted. "We will
definitely host another conference in 2007," she said.
SEATING: Because there will not be enough seating in the Scheman Center's
Benton Auditorium to hold all the registrants, Euken said, those who can't get into
the auditorium for the keynote speakers will be able to watch them on a remote
television hookup in a nearby room.
WHO'S ATTENDING: Registrations have come from all over the United States
and Canada and include government officials, farmers, public utilities,
universities, technology companies, environmental organizations, renewable fuel
companies and venture capitalists.
WHO'S SPEAKING: Speakers at the conference include Jim Breson, general
manager of the Energy Biosciences Institute at BP and a graduate of Iowa State
University; Lee Lynd, a professor of engineering at Dartmouth College; Vinod
Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a leading venture capitalist in
renewable energy; and Tom Dorr, an Iowa native who is undersecretary of
agriculture for USDA Rural Development. More than 75 speakers will participate
in breakout sessions on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
LEARN MORE: For a complete agenda, go to www.bioeconomy
conference.org.Ethanol just the start of fuel alternatives
Iowa is a hotbed for ethanol production these days, but the state could be
producing much more for alternative fuels. Read about the many ways Iowa
could help end America's heavy use of fossil fuels.