Recipient Organization
STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK
(N/A)
SYRACUSE,NY 13210
Performing Department
Paper & Bioprocess Engineering
Non Technical Summary
The funds will be used to (1) Complete a conceptual plan for the SUNY Biorefinery Education Research and Development Center (BERDC) and Start Up NY site in Wellsville, New York, and (2) Complete a use, business and operations plan for the BERDC.The BERDC will be attached to the Alfred State College Advanced Manufacturing Center and will demonstrate advanced technology synergy between the two university technology centers to develop the technology and workforce in bio-energy, bio-process technology and will also accommodate new businesses related to the work of the BERDC and the New Forest Economy. The Alfred State CollegeAdvanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) has been funded and is in design for planned construction and occupation by Janumy 2016. Funding to build the BERDC - Start Up NY in Wellsville Site that will be attached to the AMC is anticipated to be forthcoming from the State of New York under the leadership of ESD in the next 6-12 months. The BERDC has been recommended for funding by the Western NY Regional Council. The plans completed in this project will provide programmatic, operations and construction direction forthe final design and development of this innovative joint venture between ESP and ASC. The BERDC will be located in Wellsville New York in Allegany County on the Wellsville Campus of Alfred State College in the hemt of the bitthplace of the world's petroleum economy. The BERDC will benefit both Wellsville and Allegany County but eventually will benefit all the counties in the Southern Tier West of NY and all rural regions in New York anp the nation with the initiation of the New Forest Economy Rand D Network which is pending with the NSF.The BERDC site in Wellsville is a Start Up NY Site that will accommodate the research and development needs of technology innovation, development and commercialization; it will serve stmt up companies and existing industries that are diversifying. It will develop clusters of bio-energy and bio-technology businesses in and around the Center, the community and the region, rejuvenating the energy economy inthe bitthplace of the world's petroleum industiy. The project's location in this historic place makes a powerful statement to the state, the nation and the world. The project will guide innovation in forest resources usage for energy and economic development in response to the national contraction of the forest products industly. The project will spin off new companies and new technologies and new products. The project is designed to repurpose former Brownfield sites in New York State and the nation. It will reshore manufacturing, displace imp01ts and reindustrialize rural New York with technology based clean manufacturingjobs and energy. The BERDC and the Start Up NY Site that is affiliated with it are the foundation of a State University of New York Integrated Industrial - Environmental Ecology initiative called the New Forest Economy (NFE). The NFE has received technology development funding in the amount of $7 million from the USDA, National Science Foundation, Depmtment of Energy and New York State Sources. SUNY ESF has invested $6 million in facilities and equipment advancing the technology as well, for a total R and D investment of $13 million total to date. The NFE will exert positive impact in the N01theast economy and environment and that of the entire nation, creating a minimum of 1,000 jobs in the Southern Tier West, 20,000 jobs in NYS , over 100,000 jobs in the 6 state region in the northeast and potentially 500,000 nationally as it stewards land, forest andwater resources, manufactures products and produces energy. The NFE is a response to the severe contraction of the paper industry in the Northeast and the nation (and the subsequent loss of tens of thousands of jobs); it will apply technology to create new wood derived business clusters to replace the losses experienced in the changing paper industry cluster. The NFE has a particular focus on formerpaper mill communities and post industrial sites and brownfield sites in those communities. It targets these environmentally and economically degraded locations, applying Emerging Sustainable Industrial and Environmental Enhancing Technology to develop integrated bio technology I bio processing businesses including food, bio products, wood products and energy.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
1. Redefine the Forest Economy by developing new or enhanced wood fiber derived economic development clusters with our public, business, academic and nonprofit partners introducing technologies that will diversify and expand the business clusters, produce traditional and new forest products, creating jobs while generating maximum value from sustainably managed forest resources.2. Locally grow affordable food and fuel to supply the 60 million person market in the Northeast Megaregion and all other megaregions in the US.3. Develop a minimum of 15 sustainable bio products displacing fossil fuels purchased from overseas (like gasoline, heating oil, ) replacing them with safe native New England wood fiber based bio chemicals and biomaterials. These chemicals and materials will be extracted and processed in a safe and environmentally friendly manner from wood that is grown using sustainable forest practices. These products can be created more efficiently and with better environmental benefit than corn based corn based bio fuels and bio4. Establish a new manufacturing cluster that will revive heavy industry in the northern US: Bioprocess Equipment Engineering and Fabrication5. Rejuvenate the wood products economic cluster and enhance the functionality and efficiency of wood chips as a material in traditional (paper, reconstituted wood products, wood pellets) and future products (sugars for fermentation, bio based chemicals)6. Contribute to the urban food supply of the 5 Northeast Megaregion cities from the 142 +counties described in the RP A Northeast Megaregion Study with food that is safe, secure and local; moreover it will be delivered with a lower carbon footprint than food that is brought from great distances.
Project Methods
The project will involve the following activities:(1) BERDC Plan - The following activities will be undertaken:(a) Work with the two patiriering universities (ESF and Alfred State College) to develop the design program for the facility, including descriptions of all necessary equipment, research space, business space, suppoti facilities and academic, office and meeting spaces;(b) Work with the leadership of ASC to estimate the cost of all facilities( c) Meet with potential business tenants and NFE stakeholders to determine what kind of Start Up NY space will be needed and appropriate;( d) Develop the cooperative use agreement between Alfred State College and SUNY ESF;( e) Develop a management program for the BERDC building;(f) Develop a business plan that carries out the BERDC research and education function and makes the building self sufficient;(g) Coordinate with Alfred State College (and its engineers) to plan for the integration of heating systems, classrooms and shared space with ESF(h) Develop a facilities management and maintenance concept and patinership plan with Battelle and ABS Inc;(i) Complete a conceptual site plan and a plan for the BERDC building;G) Develop a summary profile of the Education, Research and Development program that the BERDC will pursue based on all of the above considerations