USDA taps MSU for three bioenergy, biobased product grants

April 27, 2011 |

In Michigan, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Michigan State University today to highlight three new research grants awarded to the university to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. Merrigan joined energy stakeholders and university officials for the announcement and for a tour the Cellulosic Ethanol Pretreatment research lab and AFEX technology pilot plant.

Merrigan stated,  “These research projects will give us the scientific information needed to support biofuel production and propel us to out-educate, out-innovate and out-build in the field of renewable energy to help America win the future.”

The projects and grants for MSU include: $998,630 to quantify the impacts of woody biomass feedstock production systems on carbon sequestration in soils and biomass and soil emissions of greenhouse gases to determine the net environmental benefits and long-term sustainability of biomass energy production in the northern Great Lakes Region, $991,219 to examine three groups of highly mobile, grass-associated pests: cereal aphids, aphid-vectored viruses, and white grub larvae. These studies will help identify the most suitable bioenergy crops for use in Midwestern agricultural landscapes to support sustainable agriculture and energy production, and $957,582 to develop a cost-effective glycerol-based succinate fermentation process to help increase the sustainability of biodiesel production.

The grants were NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

More on the story.

Category: Research

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