Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center 2010 Science Report

2010 Science Report

Our Opportunity

Finding cost-effective, environmentally-sustainable ways to provide energy is arguably the largest single technological challenge society has ever faced. To meet this challenge, the United States has established aggressive goals to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil for the sake of the American economy, national security and the global environment. Bioenergy is among the most promising areas for exploration, but realizing this potential requires fundamental scientific breakthroughs that permit renewable energy production using sustainable practices to produce a combination of food, fiber and fuel.

More than a billion tons of cellulosic biomass are potentially available as feedstock for biofuels production in the U.S. Harnessing these feedstocks for cellulosic biofuels could substantially reduce oil consumption, help cut overall carbon dioxide emissions and usher in a new green economy.

Our Mission

Our mission is grand, but simply stated: perform the basic research that generates technology to convert cellulosic biomass to ethanol and other advanced biofuels.

Our Role

In order to focus the most advanced biotechnology-based resources on the biological challenges of biofuel production, the Department of Energy (DOE) established three Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs) in September 2007. The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with Michigan State University as the major partner. Additional scientific partners are DOE National Laboratories, other universities and a biotechnology company. GLBRC’s researcher expertise covers a wide array of disciplines, from microbiology to economics and engineering. Each Bioenergy Research Center is pursuing the basic research underlying a range of high-risk, high-return biological solutions for bioenergy applications. Advances resulting from the BRCs will provide the knowledge needed to develop new bio-based products, methods and tools for the emerging biofuel industry.

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4 5 6 8

Building a Bioenergy Knowledgebase

Creating a New Research Culture and Research Measures

Our Charge Sustainable Biofuels Practices

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Improved Plants

12

Improved Processing

14

Improved Catalysts

16

Industry Engagement

18

Education & Outreach

19

Contact Us 20

Our Partners

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Building a Bioenergy Knowledgebase

This year we’ve witnessed firsthand the environmental and societal costs associated with our society’s continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Tim Donohue Director, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

The images and tales of loss at coal mines and offshore drilling stations make it clear to citizens around the globe — what we pay at the pump does not reflect the true cost of our energy choices. As researchers charged with forming the basic science foundation for a sustainable cellulosic biofuels industry, it is even more important that we work together to provide solutions for tomorrow’s energy future.

In our three years as a Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center, we’ve assembled a vibrant team of nearly 400 researchers and staff. Members of our Center are working in labs and fields on 60 projects spanning the biofuels pipeline, and I’m proud to see them moving beyond the borders of their own scientific projects to forge new research partnerships.

Our geneticists, microbiologists, computational scientists and engineers are working to create new methods for releasing and converting sugars into renewable fuels. Members of our Improved Catalysts team have recently developed a new genetic method for studying a promising cellulosedegrading microbe (more, page 14). As we identify microbial strains that could help create biofuels more efficiently and more cost effectively, our high-throughput platforms allow us to quickly and thoroughly characterize each strain’s ability to break down cellulose and its ability to withstand harsh biomass processing environments.

Compared with annual crops, perennial biofuel crops cost less to maintain and have greater potential for greenhouse gas mitigation. But there are both technical and economic barriers to switching from annual to perennial crops, and we are working hard to understand the possible impacts. Our agronomists, chemists and biochemists are working together with climate scientists to determine which perennial crops are the best candidates for achieving optimal carbon balance and economic return.

Members of our Improved Plants research team are working to improve future biofuels feedstocks by examining the architecture of lignocellulose. This year our capacity for visualizing lignocellulose structure was increased when we received Recovery Act funding to purchase additional NMR equipment, which provides us with a 2D “fingerprint” of the cell wall.

“This March we achieved an important milestone by publishing our 100th peer-reviewed research paper. “

Our ecologists, economists and climate scientists are working to identify the essential elements of a sustainable biofuels industry. Our sustainability experts have identified three key characteristics for sustainable biofuels cropping systems: plant diversity, perenniality and productivity.

Using diverse plants such as mixed prairie for biofuels feedstocks could provide valuable ecosystem services like pollination and pest suppression (more, page 9). Building on the recommendations of entomologists and ecologists, our chemical engineers are evaluating the effects

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of biomass pretreatment processes on mixed feedstocks (more, page 13).

Central to our mission is our great progress in advancing the basic science that will form the foundation for the biofuels industry. This March we achieved an important milestone by publishing our 100th peer-reviewed research paper. Only five months later, our 150th paper is just around the corner. This milestone is just one way that we’ve demonstrated our ability to produce knowledge at an increasingly rapid pace. As our researchers continue to build the foundation of a biofuels knowledgebase, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with members of industry. Expanding these interactions will strengthen our knowledge of industry-relevant issues and translate our research findings to build technology for a future cellulosic biofuels industry.

Creating a New Research Culture Looking back, it’s hard to believe that only three years ago we announced the establishment of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

Originating from a partnership between the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of WisconsinMadison (UW-Madison) and Michigan State University (MSU), this regionallydistributed, cross-institutional project is steeped in the legacy of two landgrant institutions. Of the three DOE Bioenergy Research Centers, only the Molly Jahn Dean of the College of GLBRC is located within an academic Agricultural and Life institution. This direct connection to Sciences, University of our nation’s best research universities Wisconsin - Madison fosters unique opportunities for the synthesis of cutting edge research across the Center’s broad-ranging, multidisciplinary partners.

This university-based approach to developing solutions for national and global energy challenges is fast-tracking the basic research necessary for efficiently converting cellulosic biomass to ethanol and other advanced biofuels. Further, the GLBRC

is strategically collaborating with other university and industry partners to advance key research that has high-return potential in innovative bioenergy applications.

The strength of expertise within its partner institutions positions GLBRC to lead the way in discovering solutions to major societal problems involving food, environment, energy and health, a charge identified in the Board of Life Sciences’ 2008 report, New Biology for the 21st Century. The strong track record in biological sciences, genomics, agriculture and sustainability research confers on the GLBRC the infrastructure and expertise to create a new type of research culture — one with an integrated approach to addressing complex biological challenges. The quality of research described in this science report is evidence of the wisdom of the DOE in its selection of the GLBRC’s approach to focusing the most advanced genome-enabled, biotechnologybased resources on the biological challenges of biofuel production.

Research Measures

Before embarking on collaborative scientific projects, researchers often enter into agreements to protect their intellectual property.

Tracking non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), material transfer agreements (MTAs) and invention disclosure reports (IDRs) can be valuable ways of monitoring research collaboration and output. A higher number of NDAs and MTAs indicate that GLBRC researchers are participating in more collaborations with fellow researchers – both within and outside the Center. An increasing number of IDRs means that the GLBRC is producing more technologies and inventions which may lead to patents and new ways of producing fuels from biomass. For the most recent research measures, visit www.glbrc.org/industry 125

Peer-Reviewed Publications

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Material Transfer Agreements 75

Non-Disclosure Agreements Invention Disclosure Reports

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2008

2009

2010

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Our Charge

Plants

Sugars

Improved Plants

Improved Processing

The inability of many plants to store

The efficient conversion of insoluble

energy-rich hydrocarbons, as well as

plant biomass to soluble sugars is a major

difficulties in breaking down cell walls in

challenge to the economical production

plants, present barriers to using biomass

of bioenergy products. To remove this

for bioenergy production. Our researchers

bottleneck, new treatments are needed for

work to improve plant biomass by

processing feedstocks such as corn stover,

increasing hydrocarbons in plants and

switchgrass or wood chips. In this area, our

creating cell walls that can be more easily

long-term goal is to develop new physical

degraded.

and biological ways to process plant biomass.

For more information about GLBRC research, visit www.glbrc.org/research 6

Fuels

Improved Catalysts

Sustainability

To improve how we convert biomass

Progress toward a sustainable bioenergy

into energy products, we are exploring

economy will be achieved by exploring

solutions to convert plant-derived sugars

novel production systems with optimum

(and photosynthetically-derived energy)

biomass yields and minimal environmental

into bioenergy compounds. Our long-

costs. Our long-term goals are to

term goals are to improve methods for

explore different plant species and their

converting biomass into ethanol, advanced

management intensities, optimize soil and

biofuels and other chemical feedstocks that

microbe interactions, understand water

can replace fossil fuels.

and nutrient use limitations, evaluate global warming potential and enhance ecosystem services. This will also include analysis of economic and biophysical limitations at regional and global scale and development of strategies to overcome limitations.

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Photo by: Kurt Stepnitz, Michigan State University Office of Biobased Technologies

Sustainable Biofuels Practices

Our researchers are obtaining the knowledge needed to deploy biofuel cropping systems that are profitable and environmentally sustainable.

Biofuel Crop Diversity Adds Value

Lady beetles, bees and other beneficial insects provide numerous ecosystem services, including controlling pests and pollinating crops. Earlier research by MSU scientists estimated that such insects in soybeans provide about $240 million worth of biological pest control per year in the U.S. “We found that the diversity of the plants has a direct effect on the number and diversity of beneficial insects,” says Doug Landis, MSU professor of entomology and co-author of the study, which was published in a special issue of the journal BioEnergy Research in March 2010. “As policymakers consider which biofuel crops to support with incentives, we want to make sure they know about all the benefits provided by a range of crops. Some of these benefits, such as greenhouse gas benefits, pest suppression and pollination, are not currently being counted.”

United States about declining numbers of pollinators,” says Rufus Isaacs, MSU entomology professor and study co-author.

“As policies are developed to increase production of cellulosic biofuels, it’s important to know how the type of biofuel crop affects the environment and biodiversity, as well as how much fuel it can produce.”

Landis and Isaacs cautioned that if switchgrass is managed as a single biofuel crop, some of the plant diversity they observed in their study fields could be lost, making the crop less suitable for beneficial insects.

“This research suggests that monocultures probably won’t offer the long-term benefits that more diverse landscapes will,” Landis says. “This is the first step in a series of studies aimed at characterizing biofuel landscapes of the future, landscapes that are economically and environmentally sustainable. The next step in our work will be to put a value on the services beneficial insects provide.

We’ll be measuring how much predation and pollination is taking place.”

-Michigan State University Office of Biobased Technologies

“This research suggests that monocultures probably won’t offer the long-term benefits that more diverse landscapes will.”

The MSU scientists compared beneficial insect populations in three types of biofuel crops: corn, switchgrass and mixed-species prairie (native grasses and wildflowers).

The research shows that there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of crop. Corn does provide more biomass per acre, but switchgrass and prairie attract greater numbers of beneficial insects, more diverse types of beneficial insects, or both in some cases.

“There has been concern in the

Profitability of Converting to Biofuel Crops

Cellulosic biomass crops like switchgrass, Miscanthus, poplar or native grasses present tremendous opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while increasing ecosystem services like water quality and biodiversity. The need for sustainable transportation fuels has driven a significant amount of interest in growing these cellulosic energy crops for biofuels. However, before farmers will consider dedicating land to

biofuel crop production, they need to know more about the production cost, crop yield and market price.

A team of MSU researchers compared the profitability of six cellulosic energy crops with two corn crop systems in the Great Lakes region over a 10-year period. Results of the analysis are published in the March-April 2010 edition of Agronomy Journal.

Based on 2006–2009 costs and yields from literature, none of the cellulosic crops would be more profitable than the cornbased systems. Comparative breakeven price analysis—that is, the price that tells a farmer that the return from the challenger crop exceeds the return of the defender crop — identifies the cellulosic feedstock price that would make crops equally profitable with continuous corn.

Breakeven prices of cellulose are $110 to $130 per Mg for poplar, switchgrass and mixed grasses. For Miscanthus, breakeven cellulose prices are $200 per Mg at current costs, but only $45 per Mg if rhizome costs fall to near European levels, well within the range of temporary U.S. Farm Bill cost share levels for biomass harvest, transportation and storage.

Without targeted subsidies, native prairie and fallow old field systems would not be competitive with corn or the other four cellulosic crops reviewed at current yields and foreseeable prices.

“For now, corn stover looks like the cellulosic bioenergy crop of choice,” says study co-author Scott Swinton, a MSU professor of agricultural, food, and resource economics. “Of course that could change with environmental policy that rewards the water quality and climate change benefits from perennial crops such as switchgrass, poplar trees and mixed grasses.”

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Improved Plants

Our researchers are developing improved biofuel feedstocks, or energy crops, and optimizing these crops for conversion into sustainable fuel.

Burning Bush Gene Could Fire New Advances in Biofuels and Low-Calorie Food Oils

New low-cost DNA sequencing technology applied to seeds of the species Euonymus alatus – a common ornamental planting – was crucial to identifying the gene responsible for its manufacture of a novel, high-quality oil. But despite its name, the burning bush is not a suitable oil crop.

Yet inserted into the mustard weed – wellknown to researchers as Arabidopsis and a cousin to commercial oilseed canola – the burning bush gene encodes an enzyme that produces a substantial yield of unusual compounds called acetyl glycerides, or acTAGs. Related vegetable oils are the basis of the world’s oilseed industry for the food and biofuels markets, but the oil produced by the burning bush enzyme claims unique and valuable characteristics.

One is its lower viscosity, or thickness.

“The high viscosity of most plant oils prevents their direct use in diesel engines, so the oil must be converted to biodiesel,” explained Timothy Durrett, an MSU plant biology research associate. “We demonstrated that acTAGs possess lower viscosity than regular plant oils. The lower viscosity acTAGs could therefore be useful as a direct-use biofuel for many diesel engines.”

Improved low-temperature characteristics noted for the oil also could make it suitable for diesel fuel, he said. And acTAGs boast lower calorie content than other vegetable oils, Durrett added, “thus they could be used as a reduced-calorie food oil substitute.”

With University Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology John Ohlrogge, Visiting Professor of Plant Biology Michael Pollard and other MSU researchers, Durrett published the findings in the May 18, 2010 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers now are working to improve the modified mustard weed seeds’

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acTAGs yield and already report purity levels of up to 80 percent.

“With the basic genetics defined and thus one major technical risk greatly reduced,” says Pollard, “the way is open to produce and assess this novel oil in food and nonfood applications.”

-Michigan State University News

Plants Designed for Processing

The complex sugars within cellulose account for nearly 70 percent of all plant cell walls. Before researchers are able to break cellulose into the sugars needed for biofuels, they’ll need to get past lignin, a complex polymer that provides both structure and protection for the plant. The presence of lignin is one of the most significant hurdles to cost-effective biomass processing for energy feedstocks like agricultural residues, wood, switchgrass and Miscanthus.

Researchers within our Improved Plants area are taking a revolutionary approach to overcoming this hurdle. A team led by John Ralph, a professor of biochemistry at UWMadison, is working to create new varieties of lignin that are easier to process. Researchers from UW-Madison and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (DFRC) are reengineering the molecular structure of lignin so that the backbone contains easily breakable ester groups, or “zips.”

“Introducing these ‘zips’ will either remove lignin from the cellulose or free it from the cell wall during processing,” says Ralph, “so that pretreated biomass releases lignin more easily for fermentation into biofuels.”

To create this modified lignin structure, researchers need to modify the lignin monomers — or building blocks — found in plant cell walls. The primary requirements of any substitute monomer are that it must be synthesizable by plants and be fully

compatible with lignin formation.

Coniferyl and sinapyl ferulates are monomer components that have both of these characteristics, says Ralph, and their structure will allow them to be fully incorporated into the lignin polymer.

Previous studies by John Grabber (DFRC) have shown that incorporating even 25 percent of the coniferyl ferulate into the lignin backbone could significantly reduce the required biomass processing temperatures.

“Introducing these ‘zips’ will either remove lignin from the cellulose or free it from the cell wall during processing so that pretreated biomass releases sugars more easily for fermentation into biofuels.”

Through collaborations with MSU researchers Curt Wilkerson and Saunia Withers, the team has identified an enzyme from a Chinese medicinal plant called “dong quai” (Angelica sinensis) that will stitch these building blocks together into a new type of lignin monomer.

The team is currently working to incorporate the enzyme into model plants Arabidopsis, poplar and Brachypodium.

If the modified lignin conjugates can be biosynthesized in the cell and exported to the wall with the normal lignin building blocks, the plant will use it to make its lignin polymer. If plants can be successfully persuaded to export these monomer components to the wall and the modified lignins provide the functions required by the plant, the creation of lignin “zips” could significantly reduce both processing costs and energy requirements—revolutionizing our ability to efficiently and sustainably utilize our biomass resources.

Analyzing the Digestibility of Plant Cell Walls Plant biochemists at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center are working to identify plant species with specific chemical and biological characteristics that will make them easier to process and convert to biofuels. The High Throughput Cell Wall Digestibility Platform at Michigan State University was created by GLBRC’s Enabling Technologies to speed up the process. iWall, a robotic system designed to grind and weigh biomass materials and prepare them for analysis, can process materials much more rapidly and accurately than by hand. These advanced tools allow researchers to quickly analyze hundreds to a few thousand samples of plant biomass.

The process begins when dried plant material samples are submitted for digestibility analysis. The sample tubes are bar-coded so that sample identity is tracked and maintained throughout the process. Small steel balls are added to aid in grinding the plant tissue.

Samples are returned to the liquid handler where the pre-treatment solution is neutralized, and a cellulase mixture is added. Next, samples are placed in an incubator for overnight digestion. In the morning, the samples are centrifuged.

Lignin Composition

Samples are loaded into iWall where each is ground, weighed, and dispensed into a bar-coded output tube. iWall can process 250 samples overnight. The same amount of work would take a student 24 hours to complete. Next, the output tubes are placed into 96-well tube racks.

Tube racks are then placed on the liquid handler, where pre-treatment solution is added. The tubes are sealed and placed in a water bath for pre-treatment incubation.

Matrix Polysaccharide Composition

The clarified supernatants are transferred to 384-well plates for quantitative analysis of glucose and xylose. Outlier samples of interest are submitted for lignin and matrix polysaccharide composition analysis. Sample bar-coding allows researchers to track sample progress online using GLBRC’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). This custom software application stores sample data and generates summary reports.

Photo by: Matthew Wisniewski, GLBRC Communications

(Above) Graduate Student Christopher Bianchetti prepares a protein sample for X-ray crystallography. (Left) A representation of the interaction between crystalline cellulose and the modular cellulase EngD. The catalytic domain, which chomps on the crystalline cellulose to release the sugars, is shown in blue. The carbohydrate-binding molecule (CBM), shown in green, acts as an anchor to keep the cellulase attached to the cellulose.

Improved Processing

Our researchers are developing integrated approaches to biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis that will generate clean, fermentable sugar streams.

Protein Structure Provides Glimpse into Cellulose Breakdown Mechanism

Finding efficient and cost-effective methods for breaking down cellulose into its component sugars is one of the primary hurdles to creating biofuels from non-food plant material. Researchers within our Improved Processing research team are evaluating a variety of enzyme cocktails to improve pretreatment and processing methods.

Understanding how cellulose-degrading enzymes, called cellulases, are able to latch onto crystalline cellulose and break them down will provide important insight into developing these enzyme cocktails. By using advanced X-ray crystallography techniques, a UW-Madison research team led by Graduate Student Christopher Bianchetti and Professor of Biochemistry George Phillips has solved the structure of the modular cellulase Endoglucanase D (EngD).

“Developing a basic understanding of how EngD works expands our repertoire of knowledge on how nature attacks cellulose with cellulases,” says Phillips.

The crystal structure of EngD completed by the UW-Madison research team includes both the catalytic domain and the carbohydrate-binding module, or CBM. Based on the observations of the crystal structure, the CBM is thought to act as an anchor, which keeps the cellulase in position while the catalytic domain chomps on the cellulose to release the sugars (see figure, at left). The key portion of the CBM unit is a planar strip of three aromatic residues which act as “molecular Velcro,” says Phillips.

These residues keep the cellulase attached to the crystalline cellulose. To learn more about

the structure and function of the catalytic domain, Bianchetti is modifying the amino acid “pincers” which are thought to be involved in extracting a cellulose strand and positioning the strand in the active site for disassembly.

“We hope to be able to understand how the catalytic domain interacts with the cellulose,” Bianchetti says, “and further define the role that the aromatic residues play in strand extraction and catalysis of soluble and insoluble substrates.”

the breakdown of plant material — each feedstock was tested for digestibility, sugar yield and rumen digestibility.

“The digestibility, or the ability of the

“Not only is it possible to obtain high sugar yields from mixed feedstocks, but it might be possible to arrange a mixture that is more digestible for the biorefinery.”

Cellulosic Biofuel Production Potential from Mixed-Species Feedstocks

For cellulosic biofuel production, lowinput mixed species feedstocks like mixed prairie are considered to be ecologically superior to more conventional feedstocks like corn stover because they require minimal inputs and provide valuable ecosystem services.

To investigate the feasibility of using a more diverse mix of plant material in a biorefinery, members of our Improved Processing research team tested 30 different sets of pretreatment conditions on a range of mixed feedstocks from the old field treatment of the GLBRC intensive field site, located at MSU’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). Old fields have been abandoned without reseeding and maintenance, and therefore are the lowest input crop production systems possible.

Following ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment — a process that uses ammonia, pressure and heat to increase

pretreatment to release the plant sugars, of the corn stover and the mixed species were identical,” says MSU Graduate Student Rebecca Garlock, who led this research.

“However, the overall sugar yield of the corn stover was higher—and that’s related to the total sugar content of the plant, which is related to plant maturity.”

Not only is it possible to obtain high sugar yields from mixed feedstocks, says Garlock, but it might be possible to arrange a mixture that is more digestible for the biorefinery.

From the biorefinery standpoint, feedstocks composed of more than 60 percent grass appear to be more profitable because of their higher cell wall sugar content and digestibility. The results suggest that by managing other mixed-species systems, such as grassland prairie, to have a higher grass content, these feedstocks can also be profitable for the biorefinery and may have many of the environmental benefits of an unmanaged system.

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Improved Catalysts

Our researchers are improving microbial and chemical methods for conversion of cellulosic biomass into ethanol, hydrogen, electricity or other chemical feedstocks that could replace fossil fuels.

New Microbial Genetic System Dissects Biomass to Biofuel Conversion

Fulfilling the promise of cellulosic biofuels requires developing efficient strategies to extract sugar molecules in biomass polymers like cellulose.

Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are capable of converting biomass to simple sugars, but historically have been difficult to study using genetic approaches.

A breakthrough by an Improved Catalysts research team at the UW-Madison has made it possible to perform genetic analysis on Cellvibrio japonicus, a promising bacterium that has long been known to convert biomass to sugars. Using a technique called vector integration, the team has developed a method to generate a mutation in any gene within the organism. The details of this method were published in the August 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

of a protein complex called a Type II Secretion System, and the disruption of this system prevented the bacterium from efficiently converting biomass into sugars.

This proves for the first time that Cellvibrio uses the Type II Secretion System to secrete key enzymes for breakdown of biomass polymerase, thus providing key insight into how this bacterium obtains sugars from biomass.

“This new genetic method will allow us to understand how bacteria carry out this conversion, which should provide new avenues for improving the industrial process,” says Keating.

Chemical Process Produces Simple, Fermentable Sugars From Raw Biomass

A UW-Madison research team has developed a promising new chemical method to liberate the sugar molecules trapped inside inedible plant biomass.

The approach, described in the March 9, 2010 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can convert three-quarters of the sugars locked up in raw corn stover into simple, fermentable sugars.

“Our chemical process is extremely efficient,” says Ron Raines, a UW-Madison professor of biochemistry and chemistry. “It also has marked advantages over the existing processes-both chemical or enzymatic-for producing sugars from biomass.”

Scientists across the nation are developing next-generation biofuels from inedible plant materials such as corn stover, switchgrass

“This new genetic method will allow us to understand how bacteria carry out this conversion, which should provide new avenues for improving the industrial process.”

The team, led by GLBRC Associate Scientist David Keating, constructed a mutation that inactivated a key component

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and wood chips. Unlike most ethanol on the market today, cellulosic biofuels would not be derived from food sources, potentially reducing the stress on food systems. But the complex structure of plant material keeps cellulose’s energy-rich sugars locked up in tangled webs, making the process of converting it to fuel difficult.

Raines’ chemical approach, which he developed with Graduate Student Joe Binder, a doctoral candidate in the chemistry department, relies on a mixture of an ionic liquid and dilute acid – both of which can slip past lignin – to dissolve the long chains of sugars in biomass and break them up into individual molecules of glucose and xylose.

Over the course of the reaction, water is added to the mixture to prevent unwanted byproducts from forming. After two rounds of such treatment, a sample of corn stover gives up about 70 percent of its glucose and 79 percent of its xylose, a 75 percent sugar yield overall. From there, the researchers use ion-exclusion chromatography to separate the sugars from the reaction mixture, as well as the ionic liquid, for reuse.

The sugar yields obtained using this method, says Raines, approach those achieved using enzymes to break down raw biomass. And chemicals, he notes, are more robust and less expensive than enzymes – and require no pretreatment of the biomass sample.

“In the biofuels race,” says Raines, “I feel this sort of chemical approach has a good shot at winning.”

-Nicole Miller, Science Writer, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Communication Program

Photo by: Matthew Wisniewski, GLBRC Communications

GLBRC researchers David Keating (left) and Jeffrey Gardner are working to understand how bacteria obtain sugars from biomass.

Industry Engagement Pre-Intellectual Property (IP)

Invention or Technology

Basic and Relevant Research

Post-Intellectual Property (IP) Technology Transfer & Commercialization

De-Risking As a DOE Bioenergy Research Center, we are positioned to make key discoveries and major advances that will lead to breakthrough technologies for eventual large-scale conversion of biomass into fuels.

Our purpose for engaging with industry and other private sector partners is two-fold: • To inform the Center’s research and ensure that the Center’s basic research and fundamental discoveries become relevant to industry needs, and • To accelerate the pace and improve the ratio at which GLBRC-developed technologies and fundamental discoveries are licensed for industrial biofuel production.

By establishing ongoing relationships with industry and other private sector partners, our Center will be better poised to generate fundamental scientific discoveries that will lead to the commercial production of fuels from cellulosic biomass.

Program Goals Establish a Clear Understanding of Industry Needs Give priority to discoveries, specialized collaborations and advances that will successfully address private sector needs.

Encourage Industry Partners to Engage in GLBRC Research

Offer access to GLBRC resources, talents and assets, and assist partners with building internal research capacity and competency.

Integrate into Larger Industry-Related Biofuels Community

Actively promote industry partnerships and facilitate new and ongoing communications among biofuel research centers and private companies.

Create a Seamless Flow from Research to Industry

Develop and utilize mechanisms for effectively translating GLBRC research to application testing with private industry.

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GLBRC Industry Engagement Program Components and Options: GLBRC Member Institution The GLBRC is comprised of Member Institutions that receive U.S. Department of Energy funding and that share in the governance of the Center. To become a Member Institution, an industry or academic institution must agree to and sign the Center’s Master Collaboration Agreement – the document outlining all of the Center’s operating principles and intellectual property provisions. In all cases, Member Institutions are closely aligned with the GLBRC’s vision, mission and research objectives, are bound by Center-wide decisions, and participate in basic cellulosic biofuels research.

GLBRC Partner Organization GLBRC Partner Organizations share common research foci with the GLBRC. To become a Partner Organization, an industry or academic institution will enter into an unfunded research collaboration agreement with a GLBRC scientist or engineer. This status will provide access to GLBRC labs and researchers. As Partner Organizations, industry or academic institutions may address specific research questions and may gain additional insight into developing GLBRC technologies and discoveries.

Research Sponsor Industry and other private sector institutions may also sponsor GLBRC research to optimize biofuels processes or to increase the likelihood of a relevant fundamental discovery. As a Research Sponsor, a company may support a specific research project or a researcher. The company may also provide equipment or supplies. A written agreement will detail the research relationship. Should the sponsorship help generate a novel technology or invention, the Research Sponsor may be eligible for a portion of the newly developed intellectual property.

Photos by Laurel Bacque, Kurt Stepnitz and Wolfgang Hoffmann

We seek to engage the private sector throughout the research process – from basic research to commercialization.

Regular and early contact with corporate partners will improve the volume and rate of private sector commercialization of GLBRC discoveries. This commercialization should in turn accelerate the widespread deployment of biofuels from biomass.

To learn more about GLBRC Industry Engagement, visit www.glbrc.org/industry

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Education and Outreach Bringing Bioenergy Principles into Classrooms Through a variety of programs, our professional educators connect teachers with the knowledge and tools they need to engage students in the fundamental concepts of energy, carbon cycling, fermentation and more. Grounded in the principles of scientific literacy, our programs give educators the opportunity to learn about the latest bioenergy research firsthand, explore inquiry-based classroom activities, and even partner with our researchers to design their own lab and classroom activities.

• Our education and outreach team developed a set of 11 bioenergy educational activities that range from Photo by: J.E.Doll/KBS-MSU table-top fermentation to life cycle analysis. The team established a successful method for disseminating these materials online, which has resulted in more than 400 monthly views per activity.

• In 2009 and 2010, Wisconsin teachers worked with researchers to co-develop bioenergy classroom activities as a part of our Research Experience for Teachers program.

• We partnered with the Wisconsin Fast Plants program to run a series of intensive biofuels workshops, including the eight-day Bioenergy Institute for Educators.

Expanding Bioenergy Knowledge Outside of the Classroom Beyond the classroom and the lab, we work to broaden the understanding of current issues and future opportunities in bioenergy for the general public.

• To date, our staff members have reached 2,000 stakeholders through presentations at state and national science educator conferences, science outreach events, a diversity of professional organizations and community interest groups.

• Our scientists frequently join Wisconsin Public Radio’s Larry Meiller on the air to provide scientific updates on our research and answer questions about bioenergy.

Photo by: Matthew Wisniewski, GLBRC Communications

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Training Future Bioenergy Leaders The students who participate in our Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University and the Kellogg Biological Station have examined corn in the fields, manipulated the pathways of fatty acids, studied the symbiotic relationships deep within ant colonies, and explored the structure of plant cell walls in lunar-landing-sized analysis equipment.

These programs target low income, minority and first-generation college students and provide them the experience to pursue with confidence scientific careers in bioenergy and related fields.

Photo by: John Greenler, GLBRC E&O

• In 2009 and 2010, our REU programs provided firsthand research experience to 26 undergraduates in disciplines ranging from field ecology to synthetic microbiology.

• Members of the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) team work with faculty mentors to apply cutting edge technology to a current scientific issue. While participating in the 2009 iGEM jamboree, the team from UW-Madison was awarded a bronze medal.

To learn more about our Education and Outreach efforts, visit www.glbrc.org/education

Contact Us Mailing Address and Email

Science

Operations

Education & Outreach

Industry Engagement

Media

1550 Linden Dr. Madison, WI 53706 contact@glbrc.wisc.edu

John Greenler Sara Krauskopf education@glbrc.wisc.edu

Ken Keegstra keegstra@msu.edu Steve Slater scslater@glbrc.wisc.edu

David Pluymers dpluymers@glbrc.wisc.edu

Dan Lauffer dlauffer@glbrc.wisc.edu

Margaret Broeren mbroeren@glbrc.wisc.edu

Credits

Published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) Produced by the GLBRC Communications Department Writer: Margaret Broeren Designer: Matthew Wisniewski

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Our Partners University of Wisconsin–Madison Michigan State University

Pacific Northwest National Lab

Lucigen Corporation

University of Toledo

University of Minnesota Cornell University

Iowa State University University of Missouri–Columbia Illinois State University

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DOE Bioenergy Research Centers

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