Source: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
PLANNING THE SUN GRANT INITIATIVE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0200354
Grant No.
2004-34474-15053
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2004-06070
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2004
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2007
Grant Year
2004
Program Code
[TX]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007
Performing Department
UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION
Non Technical Summary
The Sun Grant Initiative is a plan to implement land grant research, Extension, and teaching programs in renewable energy and biobased products. This project will focus on developing an administrative structure for the Sun Grant Initiative. The participating universities will organize planning conferences and summarize input to develop a planning report.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
100%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
9027110303020%
9027110310080%
Goals / Objectives
The objective of this project will be to define priorities and conduct public education in regard to the Sun Grant Initiative. The mission of the Sun Grant Initiative will be to `(1) to enhance national energy security through the development, distribution, and implementation of biobased energy technologies; (2) to promote diversification in, and the environmental sustainability of, agricultural production in the United States through biobased energy and product technologies; (3) to promote economic diversification in rural areas of the United States through biobased energy and product technologies; and (4) to enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development programs through improved coordination and collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the land-grant colleges and universities.
Project Methods
There are three primary goals of this planning period. The first is to activate land grant faculty for roadmapping and for analysis of other domestic and international efforts. Land grant faculty, administrators, and stakeholders will assess previous roadmapping efforts that have been conducted by various federal agencies, the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP), and others. The regional roadmapping committees will determine how activities supported by the Sun Grant Initiative complement these roadmaps and how the Sun Grant Initiative can initiate appropriate activities. Sun Grant Initiative centers will initiate national and regional policy analysis efforts. The policy topics will include: Assist USDA in certification of biobased products and Federal procurement (Economic diversification); Pick up feedstock development questions left unanswered by previous DOE effort (National energy security); Interaction with Federal price supports (Economic diversification); Determine the net positive and negative externalities, assign dollar values to energy security, climate impacts, offset of imported petroleum (Economic diversification and Sustainability); Assess the status of biobased technology development and implementation (Systems and collaboration). The second goal is to develop a broad educational program on the Sun Grant Initiative. The planning activities held during 2002 and 2003 brought widespread attention to the Sun Grant Initiative within the land grant community. A common conclusion from the regions was that outreach to stakeholders that are outside of the routine land-grant community is needed. Examples of these stakeholders groups are urban energy consumers, national and state decision makers, and the energy industry. The third goal is to activate regional Sun Grant advisory boards. During 2002, every region recognized the need to have multistate involvement in directing Sun Grant activities. These boards will provide guidance and feedback for roadmapping and public education efforts. Each of the five center institutions will be responsible for establishing their advisory boards. The regions will conduct their own roadmapping efforts; however, there will also be an effort to coalesce these activities into a single vision. Public education activities will have a national component and regional components.

Progress 09/01/04 to 04/30/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: There are three main outcomes from activity associated with this special grant "Planning the Sun Grant Initiative". The first is establishment of the five Regional Sun Grant Centers at Cornell University-NE Region, University of Tennessee-SE Region, Oklahoma State University-SC Region, South Dakota State University-NC Region, and Oregon State University-W Region. Each Regional Center has 1) identified a director and support staff, 2) developed and launched a regional Sun Grant web page highlighting their mission and activities within their region, 3) established linkages to the land grant universities and other stakeholders within their region via meetings/workshops and newsletters, 4) established an advisory council comprised of representatives from industry, academia and producer groups, and 5) developed an on-line grant application and peer review system. Each region released their first RFA using grant dollars from the US-DOT. The second outcome is interconnection of the five regional centers to a collaborative working group called the Sun Grant Association (SGA). Each regional center has two individuals who are members of the SGA, plus there is an executive director who coordinates the activities of the SGA. This allows the regional centers to focus on regionally relevant research and activities while helping to address national bioenergy initiatives. The SGA holds bi-monthly teleconferences and semi-annual meetings to maintain open lines of communication and collaboration among the Regional Sun Grant Centers. The SGA is also provides a unified and structured means of communicating and coordinating activities with our federal agency partners. The third outcome has been a broad-based education program on the Sun Grant Initiative and information relating to ag-based bioenergy and bioproducts. The activities of the five Regional Sun Grant Centers have been highlighted during presentations and panel discussions at six national meetings during this granting period. A national Sun Grant web page has been developed and launched which summarizes Sun Grant activities and provides a portal to each of the regional Sun Grant web pages. In addition the SGA crated an on-line encyclopedia on bioenergy and bioproducts called the BioWeb using funding from US-DOE. PARTICIPANTS: Participants in Planning the Sun Grant Initiative by Regional Sun Grant Center include: Larry Walker and Corey Rutzke, NE Regional Sun Grant Center, Cornell University; Tom Klindt and Tim Rials, SE Regional Sun Grant Center, University of Tennessee; Clarence Watson and Ray Huhnke, SC Regional Sun Grant Center, Oklahoma State University; Kevin Kephart and Jim Doolittle, NC Regional Sun Grant Center, South Dakota State University; Thayne Dutson and Jan Auyong, Western Regional Sun Gant Center, Oregon State University. In addition to these regional directors there was Terry Nipp the Executive Director of the Sun Grant Association. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for the Sun Grant Initiative are the Land Grant Universities and their stakeholders across the United States of America and its territories. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major changes.

Impacts
The Sun Grant Initiative is linking Land Grant Institutions across the nation to develop teaching, research, and outreach programs in biofuels and bioproducts to help America increase its energy security.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06

Outputs
The regional Sun Grant Centers continued to engage the Land-Grant Universities in their respective regions by providing update reports at various regional and national meetings which included the 2006 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. Each has also developed and maintained a Regional Sun Grant web page. All of the centers' web pages can be accessed through a central portal at www.sungrant.org . The five Centers have kept in close communication via teleconferences and semi-annual meeting in Washington DC. The South Eastern and North Central regions collaborated with the US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, and respective governor's associations to host regional biomass biofuel feedstock workshops. The overall goal of these workshops was to help resolve the potential contribution each region could make to provide the 1 billion ton supply of cellulosic material necessary to achieve the nation's 30 X 30 renewable fuels goal outline in President Bush's 2006 State of the Union Address. The outcomes of these workshops is available at http://www.feedstockpartnership.biomass.govtools.us/. The other three Sun Grant Regions are planning their respective biomass biofuel workshops for late summer/fall 2007.

Impacts
The Sun Grant Initative is linking Land Grant Institutions across the nation to develop teaching, research, and outreach programs in biofuels and bioproducts to help America decrease its dependency on imported petroleum.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05

Outputs
The Sun Grant Regions held regional conferences and continued to engage in widespread communication among the land-grant community and stakeholders. The results of the meetings include gathering of important and meaningful input for future accomplishments and a determination of widespread support and commitment to the Sun Grant Initiative (SGI) from non-center institutions. The planning conferences were attended by faculty and staff of numerous land grant institutions. Understanding, support, and cooperation for the SGI have been achieved; however, continued communication and engagement will be needed to maintain the positive momentum that has been established. Invited presentations were given at several conferences and organizational meetings in 2005 to present the SGI concept, answer questions, and listen to input. The major conferences included, Renewable Energy Conference hosted by Sen. Byron Dorgan, Grand Forks, ND, Feb. 23, 2005; Renewable Energy Conference hosted by the SD Public Utilities Commission, Sioux Falls, SD, April 18, 2005; meeting of University Industry Consortium, Chicago, IL, October 26, 2005. Three planning meetings occurred in Washington DC and facilitated communications among the national leaders via email and conference calls. The leadership of the SGI led discussions in development of appropriations through 2005 Highway Bill that will result in $42 million for the national SGI. Communication occurred with administration in USDA, US-DOT, and US-DOE and coordinated activities with the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden CO. The SGI is coordinating a national effort to publish a bio-energy monograph that will be a comprehensive assessment of the state of bio-energy science in response to federal agency requests. An on-line grant submission and tracking package for the regional grants portion of the SGI is being developed.

Impacts
This effort will foster wide-spread support of the Sun Grant Initiative and assist in efforts for authorization and appropriation for the program.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period