Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Our overarching objective is to advance technologies that co-produce fish feed ingredients and SAF from low grade woody biomass within a biorefinery setting. This pursuit holds the promise of substantial reductions in the production costs of both SAF and fish feed ingredients, paving the way for their cost-effective commercial production with biorefinery products entering two different market sectors.The decades of fire suppression, long-term drought, and reduced demand for pulp and paper production have been creating millions of tons of low-grade woody biomass (LWB), which typically includes small-diameter trees, branches, and other low-value wood waste streams, which currently has a very limited market. Our sustainable wood to fuel and fish feed (SWF3) program develops new technologies capable of upgrading these sustainably harvested millions of tons woody biomass to renewable jet fuel designated as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and fish feed protein ingredients. By harnessing the potential of LWB, forest owners unlock additional income streams. The additional revenue options 1) maximizes the value of the forestland 2) avoids forest land use changes, and 3) incentivizes active and sustainable forest management, improving forest health through practices like pre-commercial thinning. This proactive approach enhances long-term forest productivity. The cost-effective coproduction of fish feed from wood not only increases the profitability of aquaculture farmers but also minimizes the ecological impact of aquaculture by reducing reliance on wild-caught fish as feed. Moreover, the jet fuel derived from woody biomass offers a promising opportunity to mitigate the carbon footprint of the US aviation industry, making it a crucial step toward sustainable air travel. The current annual US commercial jet fuel market is 21 billion gallons, and it is projected to reach 35 billion gallons by 2050. The US government aims to meet the aviation sector's 100% jet fuel demand with SAF derived from renewable feedstock (e.g., forest and agricultural residues) by 2050, while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of this sector by at least 50% compared to its current emission levels. The near-term target of the US government is to produce 3 billion gallons of SAF annually by 2030. In 2022, US SAF production was only 2 million gallons, falling short of targets. This is because the current limited supply of SAF from plant oils or animal fats at production costs that are very high compared to petroleum derived jet fuel.To realize our overarching objectiveof developing a novel biorefinery framework for coproduction of jet fuel and fish feed, we are engaging in research, education, and extension activities in a wide range of fields including chemical engineering, artificial intelligence, fish nutrition, forest resources, economics, microbiology, and sustainability. The outcome of these activities will 1) advance fundamental and translational (from lab to pilot scale) sciences related to SAF production via hydrothermal liquefaction technology that works on a variety of feedstocks, and the coproduction of fish feed from wood derived sugars, 2) increase diversity in bioeconomy workforce, and 3) provide science-based knowledge to stakeholders in the bioeconomy, empowering them to make informed decisions regarding the development, use, and promotion of wood derived jet fuel and fish feed.
Animal Health Component
30%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
0%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Goals and Objectives: The overall research goal is to develop a Sustainable Wood to Fuel and Fish Feed (SWF3) biorefinery framework in which a low grade woody biomass (LWB) will be upgraded to jet fuel and fish feed protein ingredients by addressing the six research objectives.The LWB will be preprocessed (A.1) for effective conversion to SAF (A.2) and fish feed ingredients (A.4). The AI based foundational models will be developed to guide the SAF production process (A.3). The fish nutrition studies (A.5) will be performed to study microbial derived protein from LWB derived sugars as a potential fish feed ingredient. Finally, market analysis (A.6.1), supply chain analysis (A.6.2), AI based life cycle assessment (LCA) (A.6.3), and techno-economic analysis (TEA) (A.6.4) will be performed to guide sustainable technology development.The objective of the SWF3 education component is to address the knowledge and skill gaps in bioeconomy identified by stakeholders and increase participation of underserved communities in advancing the US bioeconomy by: (B.1) developing bioeconomy course modules for the undergraduate/graduate chemical engineering, aquaculture, and social science curriculum using SWF3 research outcomes; (B.2) actively engaging underserved communities in the SWF3 research; (B.3) developing a multidisciplinary curriculum incorporating critical bioeconomy, systems thinking, and environmental sustainability courses in addition to the course modules developed in B.1; and (B.4) delivering the multidisciplinary curriculum through the online certificate to equip graduate and undergraduate students in engineering and science programs with the necessary bioeconomy competencies.The goal of the SWF3 extension is to inform and educate the five critical stakeholders (public, forest owners, aquaculture farmers, policy makers, and industry stakeholders (bioenergy and bioproducts producers) of the bioeconomy about the sustainable benefits and commercial potential of SWF3 technologies, with the aim of promoting their adoption for successful commercialization of SAF and fish feed ingredient production from LWB (C.1, C.2, C.3, C.4, and C.5).
Project Methods
Approach: Preprocess low grade woody biomass LWB (A.1): Use innovative techniques (Chemical Preconditioning System) for preprocessing at least three different LWB grades.Optimize hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) to produce bio-oil (A.2.1): Build and perform experiments in a continuous HTL reactor to understand the effect of biomass composition, residence time, and temperature on the yields and quality of HTL oil.Engineer chemical catalysts for upgrading HTL oil (A.2.2): Synthesize, characterize (using methods like SEM), and screen catalytic materials for upgrading HTL oil to aviation fuels.Develop models to guide HTL process development (A.3): Use AI methods to develop empirical models to predict the HTL process performance.Produce fish feed ingredients from LWB (A.4): Use fermentation approaches to study yeast strains for upgrading LWB to make fish feed ingredients.Study microbial derived products as sustainable fish feed ingredients (A.5): Digestibility and growth studies will be performed to understand the effectiveness of microbial derived products as an alternative ingredient (protein source) in fish feed, using growth performance, physio-biochemical and molecular approaches.Sustainability analysis (A.6): Integration of AI with techno-economic and life cycle assessment for quantifying the synergetic benefits of producing SAF and FFI in terms of economic and environmental metrics.Course Modules Development (B.1): The industrial stakeholders and academic faculty from different disciplines come together with the SWF3 research team to integrate SWF3 research into various courses.Training students from under representative groups (B.2): Virtual informative sessions will be conducted to increase the participation of students in the SWF3 research program.Curriculum development (B.3): Utilize a wide range of cutting-edge techniques to develop bioeconomy curriculum.Online bioeconomy competency certificate (B.4): the SWF3 initiative will deliver the bioeconomy curriculum via an online platform for a university-issued online certificate specifically tailored for graduate and undergraduate students in science and engineering.Extension plan: involves developing YouTube videos, fact sheets, infographics, and policy briefs, based on the SWF3 research findings (C.1; C.2; C.3; C.4).We will also focus on technology transfer to industrial stakeholders through newsletters, workshops, presentations at conferences, and direct engagement (C.5).