Forty six students from across the country and the world, most of
them graduate students or post-doctoral researchers, were filing in to
hear Steven Fales, an Iowa State professor of agronomy, speak about
"Next Generation Biofuels: What are the Challenges?"
The
intensive program features talks, tours, demonstrations and tests that
cover the opportunities and the challenges of developing a bioeconomy.
The talks cover starch chemistry, plant biology, cell wall
biochemistry, biofuels production, biofuels economics, next generation
feedstocks and more. The tours include visits to Cargill headquarters
in Minneapolis, Iowa State's BioCentury Research Farm, the Renewable
Energy Group biodiesel plant in Ralston and the Lincolnway Energy
ethanol plant near Nevada. And there are three exams to keep the
students focused.
After several years of participating in a
biorenewables program in Europe, "We thought this was our chance to
bring students from around the world to the center of the real action
in biorenewables," said Larry Johnson, the director of Iowa State's
Center for Crop Utilization Research and the university's BioCentury
Research Farm, a professor of food science and human nutrition and a
program organizer.
Biofuels
Besides, "I feel we need to do a much better
job of articulating the need and the opportunities and the state of the
technology around biofuels," Johnson said. "Biofuels have taken such
huge and terrible hits based on faulty information, we need to get the
other side of the story out - one that is based on sound science."
The
state of the science was front and center during Fales' talk. He walked
the students through a paper he co-wrote that outlines five steps to
build a biofuels industry based on cellulosic biomass rather than
grain. He said researchers need to:
- Gather and assess biomass yield data
- Redesign crop systems to optimize biomass production without limiting yields of food, feed and fiber
- Develop advanced energy crops ("This is as exciting to me as medical
science," Fales told the students. "This is no longer about farming.
This is about life sciences. There are now tremendous opportunities in
the life sciences.")
- Plan and build the technologies, logistics and infrastructure necessary to transport and store biomass
- Spread the facts about the promise and challenges of a bioeconomy through education and extension programs.
Abigail
Martin, a doctoral student in environmental policy at the University of
California, Berkeley, said Fales and others at Iowa State's intensive
program are providing her with a different perspective on energy and
environmental issues.
In California, she said the discussion is
about land-use policies and low-carbon fuel standards. In Iowa, she's
hearing about new cropping systems and sustainable ag practices. She
said the new perspectives can contribute to her research of biofuel
policies and regulations.
Raj Raman - the associate director of
educational programs for Iowa State's Bioeconomy Institute, an
associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and a
program organizer - said one goal of the intensive program was to bring
students from a variety of backgrounds together to share and debate
their views.
Another goal was to share some of Iowa State's
expertise in biorenewable research and technology. Iowa State's
Bioeconomy Institute boasts more than 160 affiliated faculty members
across the university and more than $51 million in cumulative sponsored
research funding from industry and federal agencies since 2002. Its
director, Robert C. Brown, has written one textbook on biorenewables
and an upcoming book about biofuels.
"This is an important topic," Raman said, "and we have a unique ability and expertise to share it with the world."
A
$600,000 gift from Cargill is supporting the Intensive Program in
Biorenewables and other Iowa State education programs focused on the
bioeconomy.