SEP Collaborative: Alkaliphilic microalgae-based sustainable & scalable processes for renewable fuels and products

SEP合作：基于嗜碱微藻的可持续发展

• 批准号: 1230632
• 负责人: Robin Gerlach
• 金额: $ 78万
• 依托单位: Montana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1230632&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SEP; Collaborative; Alkaliphilic; microalgae; based

The NSF Sustainable Energy pathways (SEP) Program, under the umbrella of the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative, will support the research program of Prof. Sridhar Viamajala and co-workers at the University of Toldeo, Prof. Robin Gerlach and co-workers at Montana State University, and Prof. Gregory Characklis of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This project will focus on high lipid-producing native alkaliphilic algae which are less susceptible to detrimental contamination (due to their extreme growth environment) and able to accumulate large amounts of lipid. In addition, the project will develop and test low-energy options for cell harvesting as well as for fuel and high value product generation. Through integration of unique and robust advances in algal culture stability and productivity as well as research targeted on the critical processes of algae harvesting and conversion of biochemicals, scalable, environmentally and economically acceptable processes to produce renewable fuels and chemicals will be developed. The results of this project will be of interest to industry, local communities, regulators, and academia. Specific outreach efforts will be directed towards each of these primary stakeholders through: (1) dissemination of research outcomes to local community members and industry stakeholders at conferences, trade meetings and by local community and legislator engagement; (2) engagement of underrepresented Native American students from Montana high schools and tribal colleges in summer research activities as well as undergraduate researchers in the PIs' laboratories; (3) education and training at the K-12 level through training of high school teachers; (4) development of an interdisciplinary distance-learning course sequence on "Sustainable Biofuels" that will cover broad topics on the fundamental biology, chemistry, engineering and sustainability aspects of biofuel production; (5) generation of information useful in making informed judgments regarding tradeoffs between cost and environmental impact using the results of the life-cycle analyses.This sustainable energy pathway minimizes energy and materials requirements through use of low-energy chemical and biological processes coupled with nutrient and water recycle. The global warming potential (GWP) of such biorefineries would be significantly lowered through the use of energy-efficient cultivation, harvesting and conversion methods as well as by minimizing external demands for nutrients and water. Overall, these solutions to the challenge of economic and sustainable energy from algae will be transformative through the development of novel scientific and technical advances, balanced with environmental, economic and societal merits. These algal farms will not compete with arable lands, food production, or use high quality water.

The NSF Sustainable Energy pathways (SEP) Program, under the umbrella of the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative, will support the research program of Prof. Sridhar Viamajala and co-workers at the University of Toldeo, Prof. Robin Gerlach and co-workers at Montana State University, and Prof. Gregory Characklis of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.该项目将着重于产生高脂质的天然碱性藻类，这些藻类不太容易受到有害污染的影响（由于它们的极端生长环境），并且能够积累大量的脂质。此外，该项目将开发和测试用于细胞收集以及燃料和高价值产品生成的低能量选项。通过整合藻类培养稳定性和生产力中的独特和强大进步，以及针对藻类收获和生物化学物质转化的关键过程的研究，将开发可扩展，环境和经济上可接受的过程，以产生可再生的燃料和化学物质。该项目的结果将引起工业，当地社区，监管机构和学术界的关注。通过：（1）将研究成果传播给当地社区成员和行业利益相关者，在会议，贸易会议以及当地社区和立法者参与中向当地社区成员和行业利益相关者传播研究成果； （2）在夏季研究活动中，蒙大拿州高中和部落学院的美国原住民学生以及PIS实验室的本科研究人员的参与； （3）通过培训高中教师在K-12级的教育和培训； （4）开发“可持续生物燃料”跨学科远程学习课程序列，该课程将涵盖生物​​燃料生产的基本生物学，化学，工程和可持续性方面的广泛主题； （5）生成有关使用生命周期分析的结果对成本和环境影响之间进行权衡的知情判断有用的信息的生成。这种可持续的能源途径通过使用低能化学和生物学过程，与营养和水生产物相结合，可以最大程度地减少能源和材料需求。通过使用节能，收获和转化方法，以及最大程度地减少对养分和水的外部需求，将大大降低此类生物精炼的全球变暖潜力（GWP）。 总体而言，这些解决藻类经济和可持续能源挑战的解决方案将通过开发新颖的科学和技术进步，与环境，经济和社会优点保持平衡。 这些藻类农场不会与可耕地，食品生产或使用高质量水竞争。