The New Face of Renewable Energy
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Frank Summerfield
(BBE): Studying how fungal enzymes degrade plant materials to simple energy-rich chemicals.
Roger Ruan
(BBE): Works on several projects, including: Making
biodiesel from algae; extracting the oil from high-oil corn; developing commercially trans-ferable biomass conversion technologies; life-cycle and total-cost assessment of cellulosic ethanol production; and developing sustainable renewable energy systems for practical use of bulky biomass.
Sangwon Suh
(BBE): Assessing the environmental and economic impacts of ethanol production systems; developing sustainable pathways to achieving policy goals on biofuels.
Craig Sheaffer
(APG): Assessing the environmental and economic impacts of herbaceous and woody plants for their potential yields of biomass, fiber and fermentable sugars.
Ron Phillips
(’66–Ph.D., agronomy)(APG): Exploring the genetics of high-oil corn from North Korea and how it could be duplicated and used as a starch for ethanol and an oil for biodiesel.
Mike Sadowsky
(SWC): Constructing a series of metagenomic libraries that can be used to identify novel biocatalysts for alternative energy and other needs.
Doug Tiffany
(’74–B.S.; ’77–M.S., applied economics) (APEC and Extension): Developing commercially transferable biomass conversion and refining technologies; evaluating systems for collecting, densifying and delivering herbaceous biomass material to users; and developing a clear methodology for the full-cost accounting of energy use, including environmental costs and direct costs of energy use.
Jeff Apland
(APEC): Evaluating the economic and environmental impacts of biofuels in Minnesota.
Bill Lazarus
Bill Lazarus (APEC): Measuring the health and environmental benefits of bioenergy crop production; and examining the economics of anaerobic digester systems that produce hydrogen fuel.
