Utilizing Waste Plant Material to Produce Useful New Products and Fuels

As the world searches for new compounds to replace petroleum as a source of energy, researchers are looking to biomass that has historically been considered just agricultural waste. With the price of petroleum fuels climbing fast, everything from logging slash and lawn trimmings to grass seed straw and construction debris are seen as potential new sources of biofuels as well as a diverse range of associated bioproducts.

However, new biomass feedstocks must first be processed and tested under tight laboratory controls to determine their potential for bioproducts and biofuels. This testing helps identify which processing methods yield the highest levels of sugars that can be fermented into biofuels and further processed into other bioproducts.

Researchers at Oregon State University are using Oregon BEST funding to invest in key lab equipment that will enable them to develop a standard laboratory processing system to determine the viability of new biomass feedstocks.

When complete, this laboratory-scale biomass processing and testing system will be the only one of its kind in the state of Oregon, and it will help new and existing Oregon companies expand around the successful conversion of unique biomass feedstocks into biofuels and new bioproducts.

“When a company or farmer or entrepreneur comes to us with a potential new source of lignocellulose, we need to use standard equipment so that samples processed with this equipment can serve as recognizable controls in studies evaluating the merits of newer biomass processing technologies,” says Michael Penner, a professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University, where he is teaming with chemical engineering professor Christine Kelly and biological and ecological engineering professor Ganti Murthy.

“Investing in this equipment will increase Oregon’s capabilities in biomass feedstock processing and characterization, which will increase the chances of securing additional funding and help Oregon become a national leader in this competitive area,” Penner says.

At many places along the process of refining biomass into biofuel, a diverse range of bioproducts can also be produced, including bioplastics, foods, antibiotics, biocomposite construction materials, nontoxic replacements for polymers, fiberglass, and much more.

“What this all really gets down to is asking how can we best use all the plant waste that’s out there,” Penner says. “We’re pushing the bioprocessing of these materials to lead to value-added products — many of which are still yet to be discovered.”

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