University of Guelph researching more...
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Nov 15, 2012  |  Vote 0    0

University of Guelph researching more environmentally sustainable biofuels

Guelph Mercury

GUELPH — The University of Guelph is looking at using wood bark, post-harvest corn stalks or wastes from paper mills as sources to create cleaner and more environmentally sustainable fuels.

U of G environmental science Prof. Hung Lee and University of British Columbia Prof. Jack Saddler are leading a federally funded research initiative called the Bioconversion Network, to try to develop new ways to produce biofuels.

They’re focused on creating renewable fuels using lignocellulosic material — that is, the stalks, stems and other structural parts of plants. This differs from conventional methods of fuel ethanol production that use more easily processed corn kernels, which are also valued as food.

Currently, most ethanol produced for gasoline blends in Canada comes from corn starch derived from plant kernels.

Lee says that interest in alternative fuel sources mimics the price of oil. When the price of oil is high, people and governments start looking for alternative fuels to ease their economic pains. When, the price of oil is lower, there is less interest and funding.

“We already have the technology to turn these sorts of waste products into biofuels,” says Lee. “The problem the (Bioconversion) Network is trying to address is that this technology has not developed to the point where it is as an economical alternative to fossil fuels.”

Creating fuel from biological material is a well-established pursuit at Guelph. Here, biofuel initiatives have been a part of the research scene for more than 20 years. They’ve taken on several forms, from developing improved yeast and enzyme varieties to tree-based energy. Now, Lee and his colleagues are trying to accelerate this development.

Here’s what typically happens on a farm. After harvest, most of the leaves, stalks and roots of plants such as corn and wheat are left lying in the field to decompose. That recycles valuable nutrients back into the soil and forms what’s called crop residue.

Removing significant amounts of these residues for ethanol production can eliminate beneficial nutrients, and impact future crop yields.

So although technology developed through the network could be applied to crops, researchers instead concentrate on other structural materials such as wood processing wastes (wood chips, etc.).

This bioconversion of forestry residues comprises different but interconnected steps, and the Bioconversion Network has projects underway designed to incrementally improve the cost-effectiveness within each step. For example, the first two steps focus on finding ways to efficiently break down the complex sugars in waste materials into sugar monomers suitable for fermentation.

Unlike the simple glucose derived from corn and wheat starch, lignocellulosic plant biomass generates a mixture of sugar types. Lee and his team are focusing on the five-carbon sugars known as pentoses, a variety that can’t be easily fermented by common fermenting yeasts.

“We have yeast varieties that process these pentose sugars, but the trick is identifying ways to improve their fermentation efficiency and yield,” says Lee.

In addition to ethanol, Lee hopes the network will help establish more cost-effective methods of production for other high-value compounds, such as the sugar sweetener xylitol, chemicals for biodegradable films or higher grade fuels.

“It’s about steadily improving the process to gradually bring down the price of biofuels,” says Lee. “We’ve undertaken an ambitious project, but we have a great team of people. Developing renewable fuels is something that should be a constant priority.”

This article was written by a participant in the Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge (SPARK) program at the University of Guelph.

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