Michigan State University funding biomass fuels project

MSU research fuels bioenergy initiative


June 26, 2007 - Renewable energy for American industry is at the root of a major Midwest research center funded by the largest federal grant exclusively for research endeavors in MSU's history, it was announced June 26.

MSU will partner with the University of Wisconsin-Madison in establishing the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), one of three new U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (BRC).

The center, based in Madison, will be funded with $125 million over five years. MSU will use approximately $50 million for basic science research aimed at solving some of the most complex problems in converting natural materials to energy.

Ken Keegstra, MSU University Distinguished Professor of plant biology and of biochemistry and molecular biology, will be the executive director of the center, splitting his time between East Lansing and Madison. Keegstra and Tim Donohue, UW-Madison professor of bacteriology, led the initiative to bring the center to the Great Lakes region.

Some 100 jobs are expected to be created in Michigan, including MSU faculty, postgraduate students, technicians and support staff.

“This is a proud day for MSU and the state of Michigan – and a dramatic step toward an economy powered by strategic partnerships among states, research universities and industry,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “MSU’s Office of Biobased Technologies and our preeminent scientists are dedicated to addressing problems and opportunities of today, but, more importantly, of the future.”

“This is a great partnership that uses Michigan State’s comprehensive and powerful plant sciences to shape a green future in renewable resources,” said Steve Pueppke, director of MSU’s Office of Biobased Technologies. “This matches some of the world’s best plant science with industry needs. The work will create momentum; these activities bring on more activities. This is how things start to happen.”

The three DOE BRCs were announced June 26 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. They are established and operated to accelerate basic research on the development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. The other two DOE BRCs are in Oak Ridge, Tenn., led by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and near Berkeley, Calif., led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

“These centers will provide the transformational science needed for bioenergy breakthroughs to advance President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost competitive with gasoline by 2012 and assist in reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years,” said Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman.

“The collaborations of academic, corporate and national laboratory researchers represented by these centers are truly impressive, and I am very encouraged by the potential they hold for advancing America’s energy security.”

Research at the DOE GLBRC will be done by a dream team of scientists from Wisconsin; Michigan State; Lucigen, a Madison-area biotechnology company; the Pacific Northwest and Oak Ridge National Laboratories; and the University of Florida, among others.

The research focus: breeding new varieties of bioenergy plants, developing new processing techniques and agents from microbes for breaking down cellulose, improving the microbial and chemical processes that convert biomass to energy products, providing an environmental and economic framework for sustaining the biomass-to-fuel pipeline and integrating new technologies –including genomics and new computational methods – into bioenergy research.

Keegstra’s expertise is in plant cell wall biology – a crucial area in making biofuels. He has extensive management and scientific experience, having served for 14 years as director of the DOE-funded Plant Research Laboratory at MSU and as faculty member in the botany department at UW-Madison for 15 years.

He said the two universities' complementary expertise – from agriculture sciences to microbiology to chemical engineering – combined with knowledge from the rest of the partners forms a team designed for progress and action.

“If we're going to start using plants in significant ways beyond food, there are a lot of issues that come into play that we need to figure out,” Keegstra said. “Sustainability, competition for food, environmental issues – our universities already have a head start in studying these from many angles. There is tremendous compatibility between UW-Madison and MSU, and we have assembled with others a strong and dynamic partnership.”

Wisconsin, Michigan and the Great Lakes region will be a hub for research efforts aimed at clearing the technological bottlenecks that prevent plant biomass from being used efficiently as a source of energy. The DOE estimates the United States will need to process 1 billion tons of biomass per year as a source of renewable energy to meet the goal set by Bush.

"In the last 100 years we've gone through a significant fraction of the oil it took hundreds of millions of years to create," said Donohue, "so we have to come up with some new strategies."

Michigan State brings:


Some of the world’s most renowned plant scientists. MSU professors are leading three of the center's five research focus areas.


Strong links between plant and agriculture sciences and the agriculture industry as part of its land-grant tradition, made stronger with its Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.


Twenty years of research at the national Long-Term Ecological Research site (LTER) at Kellogg Biological Station, the only LTER site in the nation that focuses on agriculture.


Connectivity with and proximity to the auto industry. The GLBRC plans to craft research projects to solve key problems identified by the industry.


The Office of Biobased Technologies which identifies and supports research opportunities, forges public-private sector partnerships and supports research.


The Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station with its strong links to the state’s agriculture industry.

"This announcement combines two of the most critical components of our plan to revitalize the state's economy — a thriving higher education community and growth in alternative energy research and development right here in Michigan," said Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. "This new partnership puts Michigan State University at the forefront of making the nation independent of foreign oil while creating jobs and encouraging further alternative energy investment in Michigan."

“This center is a great achievement for MSU researchers,” said Ian Gray, vice president for research and graduate studies. “Linking the wealth of talent at MSU in plant-related activities with the strengths of researchers at the University of Wisconsin is a dream partnership. With the additional support from the other universities and institutions involved in the project, this center will have a significant impact on agriculture and manufacturing throughout the Great Lakes region and beyond.”

“This initiative aligns vast natural resources, agricultural might and MSU’s strong tradition of integrating science, university expertise and industry,” said MSU Provost Kim Wilcox. “The university’s long and productive tradition in plant and agricultural sciences is embodied in the intellectual capital our faculty bring to this partnership.”

For more information, visit www.special.newsroom.msu.edu.