Source: UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE submitted to
SUN GRANT PROGRAM - SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL CENTER
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0223852
Grant No.
2010-38502-21854
Project No.
TEN02010-04905
Proposal No.
2010-04905
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
SGP
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2010
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2015
Grant Year
2014
Project Director
Rials, T. G.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
2621 MORGAN CIR
KNOXVILLE,TN 37996-4540
Performing Department
Center for Renewable Carbon
Non Technical Summary
The SGP addresses national bioenergy research priorities at the regional level. Five land-grant universities serve as regional Sun Grant Centers, which provide leadership and facilitate coordination on bioenergy research with the land-grant universities within their regions. The SGP will develop regional competitive grants programs designed to address the bioenergy research priorities of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the context of regional biogeographically conditions and resources. The mission of the SGP includes enhancing national energy security, promoting environmental sustainability, promoting economic diversification in rural areas and enhancing collaboration among the federal agencies and the land-grant universities. Within these broader goals, the SGP proposes to focus on research, education and Extension activities that support: (1) Bioenergy feedstock production; (2) Logistics, conversion and processing; and, (3) information systems, modeling and analysis. With guidance from their advisory councils, each Sun Grant Center will refine their respective priorities, develop a regional request for applications, (RFA), announce and broadly disseminate their RFAs, receive applications through a common web-based submission and review tracking system, and utilize expert peer-reviewed panels to evaluate proposals. After selection and awards are granted, each Center will provide oversight to ensure compliance with grant requirements. Research progress and results will be reported as appropriate to USDA and also shared through Extension outreach and web-based education resources. The bioenergy research and education priorities being addressed by the SGP has been developed from the bioenergy priorities identified by the Administration and USDA in recent White House announcements and USDA reports.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
60%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2051629108025%
2051799200025%
5110680200025%
5111629202025%
Goals / Objectives
The primary objective of the Sun Grant Program (SGP) is to coordinate regional research, education, and Extension activities that are focused on agriculture and forest-based renewable energy. Specific goals are determined by regional stakeholder input and focus on activities that promote: (1) Bioenergy feedstock production; (2) Logistics, conversion and processing; and, (3) Information systems, modeling, and analysis. Until the actual selection of the regional competitive grants, it is not feasible to identify specific outcomes and deliverables from this process. However, the expected outcomes of SGP activities include advanced public knowledge, further development of a regional competitive grants program, expanded research, education, and Extension in additional or emerging feedstocks, and improved communication in the university community. An important anticipated outcome of the work is enhanced research and development collaborations, leading to new rural economic development potential.
Project Methods
Each of the Sun Grant Centers receives guidance from an advisory committee and a regional stakeholder workshop. These workshop and committee members consist of experts in their region from academia, government, the private sector, and public interest groups. With guidance from their stakeholder workshops and respective advisory committees, each region will select topics and objectives as most appropriate to their regional circumstances. Once their objectives are refined, each Sun Grant Center will develop a regional request for applications (RFA). The Sun Grant Centers will implement their own distinct regional competitive grants program, addressing national bioenergy priorities in a manner that is best adapted to their respective regional conditions. Each of the Sun Grant Centers will then announce and broadly disseminate their RFA's, receive applications through a common web-based submission and review tracking system called Webnibus, and utilize expert peer-reviewed panels to evaluate proposals. Each of the Sun Grant Centers will convene peer review panels comprised of experts that are independent of the center. The peer review panels will be drawn from representation from academia, national laboratories, federal and state agencies, private industry, and public interest groups. Reviewers will be provided guidance on the review process, with clear identification of the priorities to be addressed and the merit review standards to be considered. Principle investigators receive reviewer comments through Webnibus or email communication, and the identity of the reviewers for each proposal is kept anonymous. While the regional competitive grants programs are purposefully developed to be distinct, the five programs will be coordinated through the Sun Grant Association. Through regular meetings and teleconferences the Sun Grant Centers will closely collaborate in the development and implementation of their competitive grant programs. After selection and awards are granted, each Center will provide oversight to ensure compliance with grant requirements. Research progress and results will be reported as appropriate to USDA and also shared through Extension outreach and web-based education resources.

Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Agricultural producers, the scientific community at large, academia, national laboratories, federal and state agencies, private industry, public interest groups, the government sector, land-grant institutions, biofuel industry leaders, and additional stakeholders Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Professional Conference - The Center in partnership with USDA-NIFA and PerkinElmer hosted an international conference on “Frontiers in Biorefining: Biobased Products from Renewable Carbon,” October 29 – November 2, 2012. The conference emphasized the latest developments on transformation of renewable carbon building blocks to chemicals and materials, enabling the integrated biorefinery concept. Individual sessions considered advances in biomass fractionation and separations, catalytic processes tailored for renewables, identification of new biobased platforms for larger product families, and processes that rival the diversity and efficiency of today’s chemical industry. A student poster session also took place during the Conference. All students attending the conference were encouraged to present their work in this session. Field Demonstration - The Center sponsored and assisted in the development of a large-scale biomass regional field day: “Biomass: From Grow to Go.” This free two-day event featured independent programs on biomass production and utilization. The purpose of the event was to bring together biomass farm, industry, and research professionals in order share information, expertise, and experience in a highly educational but informal field day setting.A wide variety of tour topics included something for everyone ranging from technical presentations on biofuel production to practical tips on how to make money-growing switchgrass for biomass. Farmers were introduced to production methods, both traditional and innovative throughout the course of this program. Attendees heard from biomass experts, saw demonstrations of production equipment, toured switchgrass fields and variety trials and saw commercial-scale biomass processing and handling at Tennessee’s Biomass Innovation Park. Webinars - The Center participated an INL Recruiting Webinar in October 2013. The Center encouraged graduate students and PostDocs, and other high-quality students to attend. Student Support - Student research and development is supported through the Sun Grant Program. Sun Grant students are listed below, along with their institution and thesis/dissertation title (if applicable): Hasan Shahariar, North Carolina State University, Lignin and silicone precursors to nanofibers Shuai Li, North Carolina State University, Lignin as surfactants for emulsions and fibers Meghan Wilt, North Carolina State University Terry Felderhoff, University of Florida, Identification of anthracnose resistance mechanisms in sorghum Pixiang Wang, Auburn University Wenjian Guan, Auburn University Xianchun Zhu, Mississippi State University Joseph Vutukuri, Mississippi State University Justin Weber, University of Georgia Matthew Bobbitt, University of Tennessee, Genetic Variation and Trait Associations for Forage Yield and Quality among Half-Sib Families of Switchgrass How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? BioWeb - The Center continues its work with the other Sun Grant Centers to further plan and develop BioWeb as a major Sun Grant program. BioWeb is an educational website providing current information on biomass resources, incorporating over 200 searchable topics. BioWeb is structured to allow users to select the level of detail that is useful from them, so the site can be useful to interested citizens and students, as well as bioenergy professionals and scientists. BioWeb is available and updated regularly at http://bioweb.sungrant.org. In 2013, Dr. Steven Chmely (University of Tennessee) completed an article regarding “Bioproducts from Lignin” for BioWeb. Additional author selection for new content areas continues and the development of additional sections of content is planned. National Conference - In October 2012 the Sun Grant Association organized a National Conference in New Orleans of leading experts to highlight the scientific progress in the field of bioenergy research and to promote collaboration between academic, industry and government partners. The presentations and Proceedings from the 2012 Sun Grant National Conference are available online (http://sungrant.tennessee.edu/NatConference/). A Special Issue is being developed for publication in BioEnergy Research. This special issue focuses on the progress reported at the Sun Grant National Conference,highlighting the evolving science and technology for producing biomass. Social Media - The Center began spreading news, upcoming events, seminars, articles, etc. through social media sites. You can follow the Center on facebook or join the Southeastern Sun Grant Center group on LinkedIn. The Center’s next social media endeavor will be a Twitter account. Outreach Activities: The Southeastern Sun Grant Center continues to disseminate research results through the regional website, educational and outreach materials and technical conferences. Fact sheets have been developed on preprocessing and logistical features of the Sun Grant project. Also, recent conferences with a Sun Grant presence include: The 35th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuel and Chemicals, Portland, OR ASABE Bioenergy Day, Kansas City, MO Frontiers in Biorefining: Biobased Products from Renewable Carbon, St. Simons Island, GA The 9th BiennialShort Rotation Woody Crops Operations Working Group Conference, Oak Ridge, TN The 8th annual Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy, San Diego, CA What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The Southeastern Sun Grant Center facilitates ongoing and proposed integrated research, extension and education programs on technology development and implementation. The Center is making impacts on society, and will continue to do so in its next reporting period. The outcomes of Sun Grant activities will be more widely disseminated to advance public knowledge, workforce development, and discoveries resulting in valuable intellectual properties. Advanced efforts include informing the public and other policy makers on the issues surrounding biomass and biofuel production. Additionally, the Center will continue to incite its competitively awarded projects to reach and exceed priorities identified by the Administration and USDA.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The primary objective of the Sun Grant Program (SGP) is to coordinate regional research, education, and Extension activities that are focused on agriculture and forest-based renewable energy. The Southeastern Regional Sun Center continues to monitor its previously funded (2010-2013) research grants at the land-grant institutions around the region. The most recently collected quarterly reports for each project will be made available on the regional website at http://sungrant.tennessee.edu/grants/. Specific project accomplishments, for two of the Southeast’s currently active projects, are listed below. The project, Bayesian probabilities of risk and cost for defining optimal short rotation woody crops sites in the Southeastern U.S., provides value for the emerging bioenergy economy by estimating yields and return on investments in a geospatial context for five SRWC species (Populus deltoides, Pinus taeda, Salix nigra, Eucalyptus grandis, and Eucalyptus benthamii). The study advanced the research on SRWC feedstsocks for bioenergy by geospatially assessing the economic suitability for the aforementioned species at the finer resolution of the 5-digit zipcode tabulation area (ZCTA). Yields as measured in MAI were higher in the southern portion of the ranges of the five species and along the southeast coastal regions of the U.S. Higher yields in the southern portion of the operable ranges of the five species also resulted in corresponding higher estimates of LEV and IRR. Return on invested capital was competitive for all five species studied, dependent on the location of SRWC in its operable range. Pinus taeda (“loblolly pine”) had attractive IRR of approximately 4% on uplands and approximately 10% on lowlands. Eucalyptus benthamii had IRRs approaching 16% along the coastal resions of the southern U.S. Eucalyptis grandis had IRR exceeding 20% in coastal regions of south Florida. Salix nigra (“black willow”) had IRR as high as 9% in the southern portion of its range. Populus deltoides had IRR approaching 15% in central Missouri, southern Indiana and southern Illinois. 3PG, along with the parameters and fertility matrices provided, can be used as a powerful planning tool for yield estimates by species and by region. These foundational yield numbers can be used for further economic evaluation, wood basket feasibility evaluations, and even carbon sequestration or ecosystem level sustainability research. Users must remember that biomass production occurs in a dynamic and continually changing system. The project, Improved bioenergy sorghums for the Southeastern US, is aimed at lowering the threshold for commercial seed companies to invest in the production of seed for bioenergy sorghums. In 2013, a set of approximately 20,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated via genotyping by sequencing at Cornell University was used to map regions associated with seedling and mature plant anthracnose resistance based on the mapping population grown in the greenhouse. Leaf samples were collected for DNA extraction, and DNA has been extracted from approximately 100 of the 135 samples. A manuscript on the findings from these experiments is in preparation. The findings have led to several new hypotheses that are being examined based on evidence from the literature. An additional field small-scale field experiment was conducted during the summer of 2013 to test the hypotheses related to the influence of height and photoperiod sensitivity. The influence of height on sugar accumulation in the stem was statistically significant but rather small. Pairs of lines contrasting in height due to photoperiod sensitivity were compared for sugar accumulation. This analysis is still ongoing due to the growing season extending well into the fall.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Huang, X. J.H. Perdue and T.M. Young. 2012. A spatial index for identifying opportunity zones for woody cellulosic conversion facilities. International Journal of Forestry Research. 2012:1-11. doi:10.1155/2012/106474
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Huang, X., T.M. Young and J.H. Perdue. 2012. Assessing site locations for biorefineries using Bayesian methods. Forest Products Journal. Submitted July 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Young, T.M., J.H. Perdue and X. Huang. 2012. Assessing the landscape and socio-economic suitability for opportunity zones for cellulosic-using facilities. 2012 SmallWood Conference, Forest Products Society, May 2, 2102. Flagstaff, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Young, T.M., J.H. Perdue and X. Huang. 2012. Spatially-defined opportunity zones for cellulosic biomass supply integrated with the BioSAT model. 2012 Sun Grant National Conference. Oct. 3-5. New Orleans, LA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Young, T.M., J.H. Perdue, X. Huang, and T.G. Rials. 2012. A spatial geographic and socioeconomic index for identifying opportunity zones for biorefineries. 66th Forest Products Society International Meeting. June 5. Washington D.C.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Huang, X. Young, T.M., J.H. Perdue, and F.M. Guess. 2012. A hybrid model integrating classification trees with local Bayesian logistic regression to assess site locations for biorefineries. 66th Forest Products Society International Meeting. June 5. Washington D.C.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Evidence for Complex Molecular Architectures for Solvent-Extracted Lignins., Harton, S.E., Pingali, S.V., Nunnery, G.A., Baker, D.A. et al., ACS MacroLetters, 568-573, 1 (2012)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: On the characterization and spinning of an organic-purified lignin towards the manufacture of low-cost carbon fiber. D.A. Baker, N.C. Gallego & F.S Baker, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 227-234, 124 (2012)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Baker, D. A.; Rials, T. G. (2013) Recent advances in low-cost carbon fiber manufacture from lignin, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130, 713-728.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2011 Citation: Rapid manufacture of carbon fiber from organosolv lignins. Baker, D. A., D. P. Harper, and J. J. Bozell. The Fiber Society 2011 Fall Conference, Charleston, SC, USA, October 10-13, 2011 (Peer reviewed extended proceeding & Presentation)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Carbon materials from lignins with engineered thermal properties. Baker, D.A., Hosseinaei, O., Harper, D.P. & Rials, T.G., The Sun Grant Initiative National Conference 2012, New Orleans, LA, USA, October 2-5, 2012. (Abstract & Presentation)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Carbon fiber from engineered lignins., The Frontiers in Biorefining Conference 2012, St. Simons Island, GA, USA, October 30  November 2, 2012. (Abstract & Presentation)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Electrospun carbon nanofibers from kraft lignin., Hosseinaei, O. & Baker, D.A., The Fiber Society 2012 Fall Conference, Boston, MA, USA, November 7-9, 2012 (Peer reviewed extended proceeding & Presentation)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Carbon fiber from extracted commercial softwood lignin., Baker, D.A., Harper, D.P. & Rials, T.G., The Fiber Society 2012 Fall Conference, Boston, MA, USA, November 7-9, 2012 (Peer reviewed extended proceeding & Presentation)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hosseinaei, O.; Attwenger, A.; Bozell, J. J.; Baker, D.A. Lignin based carbon fiber from a novel organosolv bioenergy platform. The Fiber Society Fall Meeting and Technical Conference, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA. October 23-25, 2013
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Baker, D.A.; Hosseinaei, O.; Bozell, J. J.; Rials, Tg. Thermal and purity measurement methodology in lignin assessment for extrusion. The Fiber Society Fall Meeting and Technical Conference, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA. October 23-25, 2013


Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The primary objective of the Sun Grant Program (SGP) is to coordinate regional research, education, and Extension activities that are focused on agriculture and forest-based renewable energy. The 2012 RFP was developed in December 2011. The Southeastern Sun Grant Center (SE-SGC) elected to postpone the release of the RFP until FY 2012 funds were awarded, in order to combine FY 2011 and FY 2012 funds. The Southeast can attract higher quality proposals, which are more consistent with the priorities of USDA and the Sun Grant Association, if the cumulative funding amount is more substantial. The Southeast will tentatively release the 2012 RFP in July, with pre-proposals due in August 2012. In 2012 the Southeastern Sun Grant Center conducted an internal competitive grants program. This grant program focused on furthering the knowledge and literature available on the conversion of renewable carbon to chemicals, fuels and materials. The Principle Investigators were required to be faculty members of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA). The program emphases directly corresponded to the USDA program goals. Each proposal consisted of the following: completed application, project narrative, citations, budget narrative, curriculum vitae for each PI, current and pending research for each PI, and an email of support from the PI's department head. A UTIA Administrative Committee evaluated each proposal on its relevance to the program and its overall merit. The committee finally selected Drs. Joe Bozell and Niki Labbe's project entitled, "Chemical Transformations of Carbohydrates: Raising the Profile of Value-added Biorefinery Coproducts" for funding. The project incorporates two distinct components. The first - basic research on chemical transformations of lignin and carbohydrates generated by the biorefinery - will contribute to the knowledge base of pathways available for controlled synthesis of novel chemicals. The second component - technology transfer on biorefinery coproduct opportunities - will bring thought leaders together to share information on alternative chemicals and materials from biomass. PARTICIPANTS: Tim Rials: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Sam Jackson: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon, Genera Energy LLC (PI); Darren Baker: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); David Harper: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Joe Bozell: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Nicole Labbe: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Kendrick Styles: University of Tennessee (student worker); CJ O'Lenick: University of Tennessee (Postdoc); Anton Friedrich: University of Tennessee (MS, Austria); Wilfred Vermerris: University of Florida, Genetics Institute/Agronomy (PI); Ana Saballos: University of Florida, Genetics Institute/Agronomy (Co-PI); Timothy Young: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); James H. Perdue: USDA - Forest Service, Southern Research Station (Co-PI); Frank Guess: University of Tennessee, Statistics and Operations (Co-PI); John Stanturf; U.S. Forest Service, Center for Forest Disturbance Science (Co-PI); Patrick Keyser: University of Tennessee, Department of Plant Sciences (PI); Stuart Weiss: University of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Agricultural (Associate); Amanda Ashworth: University of Tennessee, Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries (Associate); Elizabeth Doxon: University of Tennessee, Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries (Associate) TARGET AUDIENCES: Agricultural producers, the scientific community at large, academia, national laboratories, federal and state agencies, private industry, public interest groups, the government sector, land-grant institutions, biofuel industry leaders, and additional stakeholders. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The following is a summary of the preliminary outcomes for Dr. Darren Baker's project entitled, "Rapid Manufacture of Carbon Fiber from Organosolv Lignins." To date, several organosolv lignins have been manufactured, upgraded and characterized for potential carbon fiber production. However, this aspect of the project has been set back due to problems in scheduling time on the organosolv reactor as several competing projects demand time on the facility. This bottleneck is being addressed, and additional organosolv lignins will be obtained for this work soon. Research has been directed to upgrading commercially available Kraft hardwood and softwood lignins by purification and molecular weight manipulation. Several high purity lignins with differing molecular weights have been obtained from both hardwood and softwood lignins, and have been characterized through measurement of glass transition, melt properties, melt stability, infrared spectra and also by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, where in the latter measurements it was found that all of the lignin derivatives were of very high purity, and thus contained no contaminants. Select lignins have been melt-spun on a bench-top extruder, processed into infusible fiber and subsequently to carbon fiber. The most promising aspect of this work, and a scientific first, has been the melt spinning of softwood lignins, which were previously thought to be not suitable for carbon fiber manufacture. However, our purification and molecular weight manipulation technology enabled this breakthrough, which is of great significance given the large availability of kraft softwood lignins. A summary of the preliminary outcomes for Dr. Wilfred Vermerris' project entitled, "Improved bioenergy sorghums for the Southeastern US" is included below. Seeds for 115 F4 lines were obtained and conditioned for planting. Seeds for six additional F4 lines are currently maturing in the greenhouse and will be ready for planting together with the remaining of the mapping population in 2012. The experiment will be planted at the Research & Education Center (REC) in Quincy, FL (north Florida, clay soil) by late May to maximize exposure to the anthracnose pathogen. The F4 241 lines resulting from F3 families from crosses of tall sweet sorghums with short grain lines of contrasting genetic height control system were planted on 12 April 2012 at the Suwannee Valley REC. The planting design minimizes shading of short plant rows by tall neighbor rows. F1 seed from 40 new crosses between disease resistant short varieties and promising tall sweet sorghums were obtained. Seed for 1,263 lines at different stages of inbreeding (F2 to F5) from previous crosses was also obtained. The lines were planted on 11 April 2012 at the Suwannee Valley REC for evaluation and advancement. From those lines we will select short B and R lines for hybrid seed production. In addition, 19 new sweet sorghum lines requested from the National Plant Germplasm System were planted to evaluate their suitability as progenitor lines.

Publications

  • Vermerris, W. Genetic dissection of complex bioenergy traits in maize and sorghum. 21 November 2011. Invited seminar, Plant Breeding department, Wageningen University, the Netherlands.


Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The primary objective of the Sun Grant Program (SGP) is to coordinate regional research, education, and Extension activities that are focused on agriculture and forest-based renewable energy. In 2011 the Southeastern Sun Grant Center (SE-SGC) conducted an regional competitive grants program. Pre-proposals submitted by the deadline (Jan. 15, 2011) were screened by the SE-SGC staff for eligibility requirements. If pre-proposals met the requirements stated in the RFP, and fit the Sun Grant and USDA priority areas, Principle Investigators were invited to submit full proposals by the stated submission deadline. Full proposals submitted by the deadline (March 15, 2011) were reviewed in detail by the SE-SGC review panel. These reviewers came from other land grant institutions, federal agencies, and biofuels industry leaders. Full proposals were reviewed and ranked by the SE-SGC review panel for scientific merit, innovation, application to current gaps in knowledge, and probability of success utilizing the information provided in the proposal. The review panel, comprised of research leaders from industry, university, and government sectors met June 2-3, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee to discuss the applications and agree on a final ranking, and provide funding recommendations. Top-ranked proposals recommended for funding by the review panel were shared with USDA, and the SE-SGC Advisory Board, to ensure consistency with regional priorities. Below are the regional projects selected for funding. The SE-SGC anticipates these projects to advance public knowledge, expand research, education, and Extension in emerging feedstocks, and improve communication in the university community. Project 1: Improved bioenergy sorghums for the Southeastern US, PI: Wilfred Vermerris, University of Florida; Project 2: Enhancing the Sustainability of Integrated Biofuel Feedstock Production Systems, PI: Patrick Keyser, University of Tennessee; Project 3: Bayesian probabilities of risk and cost for defining optimal short rotation woody crops sites in the Southeastern U.S. - Module 3 of the BioSAT Project, PI: Timothy Young, University of Tennessee In 2011 the Southeastern Sun Grant Center also conducted an internal competitive grants program. This grant program focused on furthering the knowledge and literature available on each phase of the lignocellulosic biorefinery operation process. A UTIA Administrative Committee selected Dr. Darren Baker's project entitled, "Rapid Manufacture of Carbon Fiber from Organosolv Lignins" for funding. This has been submitted to the International Symposium on New Frontiers in Fiber Materials Science. Two other presentations, regarding this work, were given at the 241st American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition. PARTICIPANTS: Tim Rials: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Sam Jackson: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon, Genera Energy LLC (PI); Darren Baker: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); David Harper: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Joe Bozell: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); Kendrick Styles: University of Tennessee (student worker); Stacy Warwick: University of Tennessee (MS); CJ O'Lenick: University of Tennessee (PostDoc); Felix Weishaupt: University of Tennessee (Visiting Student, Austria); Anton Friedrich: University of Tennessee (MS, Austria); Wilfred Vermerris: University of Florida, UF Genetics Institute/Agronomy (PI); Ana Saballos: University of Florida, Genetics Institute/Agronomy (Co-PI); Timothy Young: University of Tennessee, Center for Renewable Carbon (PI); James H. Perdue: USDA - Forest Service, Southern Research Station (Co-PI); Frank Guess: University of Tennessee, Statistics and Operations (Co-PI); John Stanturf: U.S. Forest Service, Center for Forest Disturbance Science (Co-PI); Patrick Keyser: University of Tennessee, Department of Plant Sciences (PI); Stuart Weiss:University of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Agricultural (Associate); Amanda Ashworth: University of Tennessee, Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries (Associate); Elizabeth Doxon: University of Tennessee, Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries (Associate) TARGET AUDIENCES: Agricultural Producers, the scientific community at large, academia, national laboratories, federal and state agencies, private industry, public interest groups, the government sector, land-grant institutions, federal agencies, biofuel industry leaders PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The following is a summary of preliminary outcomes for Dr. Darren Baker's project entitled, "Rapid Manufacture of Carbon Fiber from Organosolv Lignins" for funding. UT has embarked on a bioenergy-based lignin utilization program to enhance the economics of biofuel production via the generation of new products. We are optimizing a novel solvent-based process for use on switchgrass, poplar, and other bioenergy feedstocks, to obtain lignin for chemicals and materials manufacture; and cellulosics for ethanol and advanced fuels production. This is an organosolv pretreatment that separates biomass feedstock into its constituents. This solvent separation process offers a number of advantages; of particular importance is the ability to isolate lignin with high yield and purity. Furthermore, the work has revealed that the manipulation of reaction conditions gives rise to a wide gamut of lignin products with differing Tg, Tmf, and thus, MW properties. This has afforded the ability to control the process to obtain lignins targeted towards carbon fiber manufacture. Lignins obtained from alternative processes, e.g. the kraft process, have a wide MWD, and thus a large difference will be observed between their Tg's and Tmf's. It is therefore necessary, to remove the low molecular weight components that may be detrimental. Therefore we have also been examining methods by which these lignins can be extracted and optimized for carbon fiber manufacture. Most recently we have performed a series of successive solvent extractions which gave a wide variety of lignins with differing properties, with the highest yields (~65%) being obtained using extraction conditions that gave lignin suitable for carbon fiber evaluation.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period