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SDSU to get biofuel fundsSIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)--The federal government will funnel nearly $4.4 million annually through South Dakota State University over the next six years to carry out biofuels work for the federal Department of Energy. James Doolittle, director of the SDSU-based North Central Sun Grant Center, said it's the result of a new cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy. The Sun Grant Initiative involves a network of land-grant universities collaborating with the Department of Energy to reduce America's dependence on petroleum through development of a biobased economy. The idea is to strengthen American agriculture while simultaneously improving rural economies and developing environmentally friendly manufacturing products and technologies. The new cooperative agreement with North Central Sun Grant Center will focus on three main tasks important to developing biofuels: education and outreach, feedstock assessment, and feedstock development. Authorized by Congress in 2004, the regional Sun Grant Centers include South Dakota State University, Cornell University, Oregon State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tennessee. These regional centers emphasize research, higher education, and Extension programs on renewable energy and biobased industries. The national Sun Grant Association coordinates their efforts. Doolittle said the outreach work will build on an Internet-based effort to provide open access to biomass science information. The feedstock assessment component calls for using technologies such as satellite imagery to estimate feedstock supply and come up with supply curves. That work will help in siting biorefineries. SDSU will assemble the national data set and work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to analyze the data. The feedstock development part of the project will get the largest share of federal funds, Doolittle said. The Department of Energy is looking for large-scale field research on both herbaceous and woody feedstocks. Date: 10/31/07
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