College Station, Texas
September 11, 2007
Eight of
Texas A&M Agriculture's
bioenergy research projects will receive funding through the Sun
Grant Initiative, a national program established to create new
solutions for future U.S. energy needs.
Developing sweet sorghum hybrids as a bioenergy feedstock and
evaluation of transporting biomass energy crops are part of a
group of research programs being led by Texas A&M Agriculture
through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension.
The scientists will also collaborate with other land- grant
universities.
"The Sun Grant funding will greatly enhance several core
research efforts related to bioenergy as we seek science- based
solutions to alternative energy for Texas and beyond," said Dr.
Elsa Murano, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life
sciences for The Texas A&M University System. "These grants
demonstrate the depth of our bioenergy research programs and our
commitment to leveraging agriculture to help solve our country's
energy needs."
Texas A&M Agriculture will collaborate on the following research
programs as part of the Sun Grant Initiative:
- Evaluating sweet
sorghum hybrids as bioenergy feedstock (Dr. Bill Rooney,
Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences,
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station; Dr.
Juerg Blumenthal, Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station; Dr. Brent
Bean, Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station, Amarillo);
- Developing designer
sorghums to optimize grain for bioethanol conversion
(Dr. Dirk Hays, Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop
Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College
Station);
- Evaluating the nutritional
and feeding value of ethanol by- products from animal
production (Dr. Travis Whitney and Dr. Chris Lupton, Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station, San Angelo; Dr. James Muir
and Dr. Barry Lambert, Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station, Stephenville);
- Breeding and testing new
switchgrass cultivars for increased biomass production
(Muir);
- Using animal waste in
coal- fired plants (Dr. John Sweeten, Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station, Amarillo);
- Investigating a
biotechnology platform for biomass bioconversion (Dr. Paul
de Figueiredo, Texas A&M Department of Plant Pathology and
Microbiology, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College
Station);
- Developing a skid- mounted
gasification system for on- site heat, fuel and power
production (Dr. Sergio Capareda, Texas A&M Department of
Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station, College Station); and
- Evaluating the energy and
cost advantages of modules for packaging and transporting
biomass energy crops (Dr. Stephen Searcy, Texas A&M
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station).
Approximately $2.5 million over
the next three years will fund a total of 17 projects as part of
the Sun Grant Initiative, which receives funds for the research
projects from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Sun Grant Initiative is also aimed at helping revitalize
rural communities by working with land- grant universities and
their federal and state laboratory partners on research,
education and extension programs. |
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