Biofuels Researcher Searches for New Sources

People can make fuel from many kinds of plants, though over 90 percent of ethanol made in the United States comes from corn grain. However, other sources of ethanol are needed, because even if the entire United States' corn crop was used for ethanol, it would meet only 10 percent of the country's fuel needs.

So researchers are looking for new sources for ethanol. Chengci Chen (pronounced Chen-see Chen), an assistant professor of cropping systems at the Central Agricultural Research Center at Moccasin, Mont., and his collaborators are investigating Montana's potential for producing biofuels using "biomass," which refers to all biologically produced materials like grains, straw, hay, trees and fruits. He and his collaborators are working on a project to evaluate the ethanol production potential of various straws, hays, and silages in Montana.


Chen is working on the issue from two directions. First, he is looking at how to
maximize the volume of Montana crops or their residues with less input. At the same time, he is looking for the most efficient enzyme to break down the biomass into sugars and also looking at microorganisms that can ferment the sugars into fuel.

"If we use grass and straw, you can find the stock everywhere," Chen said. "It is widely available in many regions of the country, rather than being limited to the Corn Belt, and it has the potential to have higher production in Montana."

Dave Wichman, superintendent of the Central Ag Research Center has noted that "Montana farms produce 10 million tons of wheat and barley straw that are typically left in the field. An additional five million tons of hay are produced annually. The advantage of using annual farm crops for ethanol production is that farmers can produce biomass with conventional crops and equipment, and can alternate crop production for energy, food or feed."

In areas with irrigation and enough heat, a double-cropping system with winter cereals and warm season grasses like winter triticale and sweet sorghum, can be adopted.

"The biomass production increases by as much as 50 percent using this system compared to a single-cropping system," Chen explained. "Even perennial grasses like switchgrass might be grown on marginal lands or lands retired from the Conservation Reserve Program."

Chen is working with scientists at the Biological Engineering Department of North Carolina State University to screen chemicals and enzymes that pretreat and convert biomass into sugars.

"Biomass energy can contribute to cleaner air through reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It can also improve rural economies, and reduce energy dependence on foreign petroleum oils," said Ralph Peck, director of the Institute for Biobased Products at MSU. The institute has funded Chen's research after receiving a line-item appropriation through Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. "One of our goals is to make the new ethanol production methods from biomass competitive," Peck said.

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