Brownfields May Turn Green With Help From MSU Research
7/10/06
Contact: Laura Probyn
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The words “industrial brownfields” conjure many images -- deserted, decaying buildings, broken concrete and wire fences. Those visions don’t include tidy rows of soybeans, corn or switchgrass -- except in Oakland County’s Rose Township.
On a 2-acre parcel that is part of a former industrial dump site, small soybean, corn, canola and switchgrass plants are soaking up the sun just like their rural cousins.
But unlike the rolling fields of crops across Michigan, this small plot is part of a new partnership between the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Michigan State University (MSU) and NextEnergy, a nonprofit organization that supports energy technology development. The results of the work conducted here might sprout similar sites across the state and nation in areas that aren’t desirable for commercial or residential uses, contribute crops for biofuel production and help clean up contaminated soils.
Kurt Thelen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences, is leading the investigation to examine the possibility that some varieties of oilseed crops -- including soybeans, sunflower, and canola -- and other crops such as corn and switchgrass can be grown on abandoned industrial sites for use in ethanol or biodiesel fuel production.
As interest increases in the use of biofuels to offset dependence on fossil fuels, there are challenges on many fronts. Crop researchers are looking at what crops and crop varieties possess the best qualities for use in biofuels, and farmers are contemplating new marketing options.
At the same time, engineers are exploring more efficient and effective biofuel production systems. There is currently no national standardized specification for what constitutes B20, a blend of 20 percent biofuel and 80 percent petroleum diesel that is commonly used in diesel engines. Engineers and the government are working to set a standard. When it’s established, Thelen hopes to have recommendations ready on the best crop varieties that meet the standards.
“As the chemical engineers work on developing a national spec for B20, we’ll grow the crops in the marginal areas and see if they can meet it,” he says. “We’re replicating our study on campus on good agricultural land to compare yields and the quality of biofuel produced from an agricultural land base versus a marginal brownfield land base and see if there’s a difference in yield and quality of biofuel.”
DaimlerChrysler has been an industry leader in promoting the use of biodiesel in its diesel-powered products. The company has been selling the Jeep Liberty SUV with a diesel engine, and beginning in early 2007 it will offer a diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV. In both cases, the vehicles are fueled with B5 (5 percent biodiesel fuel) at the factory.
And beginning this fall, the company will approve use of B20 (20 percent biodiesel fuel) in the Dodge Ram diesel pickup for fleet customers who use fuel that meets the current military fuel quality specification.
“Renewable fuels such as biodiesel can be a home-grown solution to our nation’s environmental, energy and economic challenges,” said Deborah Morrissett, vice president of regulatory affairs for DaimlerChrysler. “This research project with Michigan State can make an important contribution toward reducing our nation’s reliance on oil.”
Thelen is also looking at oil yield in soybeans, sunflowers and canola and at the possibility that all the crops may take up contaminants that exist at brownfield sites without harming their production capabilities.
The same crops will be grown not only on the MSU campus but also in northern Michigan and on Upper Peninsula research plots to compare yield and quality between latitudes. This will provide useful information to scientists and to farmers.
The three-year study is being supported by DaimlerChrysler, NextEnergy and Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), the state’s plant industry initiative at MSU.
Its aim is to determine if crops grown on brownfield sites can produce adequate yields to make them viable for use in biofuel production. The crops also need to produce adequate quantities of oil and ethanol.
A secondary objective is to examine whether the growing plants actually contribute to bioremediation, which means they take up contaminants from the soils, without affecting their quality for use in biofuels. This might make them especially useful to grow on contaminated brownfields.
“That aspect will take more research and investigation,” Thelen explains. “Right now, our primary focus is on comparing various crops and evaluating whether they’ll yield well and produce quality biofuels on these marginal soils.”
In a related study, Thelen’s team will compare the fermentable starch yield, an indicator of ethanol yield potential, of 300 corn hybrids grown in the MSU Hybrid Trials. This will give farmers information that they can use when they are planting crops with an eye toward the biofuel market.
As is often the case with applied research, Thelen’s work will be analyzed and then disseminated by MSU Extension educators to farmers across Michigan and beyond. It’s a process that won’t take decades and, like the crops themselves, will offer a yield later this year.
“We’ll analyze all the results at MSU and will be corresponding with faculty in engineering about our various results. There are a plethora of parameters you can analyze oil for,” Thelen points out. “We’ll be able to look at the numbers for the quantity of oil for each variety by the end of December 2006.”
Further information will take the study’s entire three-year span to uncover, and the work may open the door to more questions for the future.
“Biofuel production is going to require a significant land base to meet future production expectations,” Thelen says. “Use of marginal lands or sites not preferable for food crops is a good idea. We’ll be looking at whether it is something that might offer multiple benefits.”
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