EFRI-PSBR: Biodiversity & Biofuels: Finding Win-Win Scenarios for Conservation and Energy Production in the Next Century

EFRI-PSBR：生物多样性

• 批准号: 1332342
• 负责人: Bradley Cardinale
• 金额: $ 199.96万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1332342&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EFRI; PSBR; Biodiversity; & Biofuels

ABSTRACTDevelopment of renewable energy resources like algal biofuels has become a national priority due to climate change and dwindling fossil fuel reserves. To date, most research on algal biofuel has focused on identifying "super-species" - strains of algae that can be genetically modified and grown in environmental conditions that maximize production of combustible lipids. While it is relatively easy to grow high lipid algal monocultures in idealistic lab conditions, it has been challenging to scale-up these cultures to commercially viable scales where populations often fluctuate wildly. Monocultures also tend to be inefficient at capturing and recycling nutrient waste streams, leading to concerns about their environmental impacts and sustainability. Indeed, some have argued that single-species approaches to energy production could generate the same environmental problems that have plagued single species approaches to food production. During the green revolution, vast tracts of land were converted into high-yield crop monocultures that required intensive management and application of biocides and fertilizers to maintain productivity. While the advent of modern agriculture was a huge success for feeding people, it also became the leading cause of biodiversity loss, organic pollution, and degraded water quality worldwide. Commercial-scale 'farming' of algal monocultures to produce biofuel has potential to repeat many of the same environmentally damaging practices, and poses the same challenges to conservation.Is it a possibility to find 'win-win' scenarios for biodiversity and biofuel production? Can we develop sustainable biofuels while, at the same time, avoiding unintended environmental impacts and conserving the diversity of life that is the ultimate source of all renewable resources? The interdisciplinary team of ecologists and engineers of Professors Bradley Cardinale, Phillip Savage, and Nina Lin of the University of Michigan and Todd Oakley of the University of California Santa Barbara believe this is possible. In this project awarded by the National Science Foundation through its Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation initiative, the team intends to test the hypothesis that certain naturally diverse groups of algae have complementary traits that enhance the efficiency and stability of biofuel yield beyond what any single species can achieve alone. This hypothesis stems from a wealth of ecological research that shows whenever species specialize in their use of nutrients or light, or respond to environmental fluctuations differently, diverse communities will (a) more efficiently capture available resources, (b) produce more biomass than even the single most productive species, and (c) maintain yields more stably through time. The ultimate goal of this work is to identify the most productive and sustainable multi-species algal biofuel systems, and then, on a longer term, scale these up to commercially viable biorefineries. One of the key products of the project work will be the generation of a new genomics database that will identify the genes that code for metabolic pathways involved in the production of biocrude oil. This database will not only help identify the genetic code that leads to biofuel production, it will make that code available to future researchers who wish to use genetic engineering to enhance the efficiency, productivity, and stability of algal biofuels even further. The investigative team has partnered with established programs like the University of Michigan's Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach, and the Ecological Society of America's SEEDS extension service, to aid in selecting the student personnel. Utilizing these programs will foster participation by minority groups in the sciences by connecting researchers to ethnic and economically disadvantaged minorities who are seeking research opportunities. In addition to training a new cohort of scientists, the team has also partnered with the Leslie Science & Nature Center to promote public education on sustainable algal biofuels. The Leslie Science & Nature Center is a Michigan nonprofit that provides environmental education and experiences to 25,000 visitors annually, mostly kindergarten through high-school students. A hands-on science exhibit will be developed to teach the public about the benefits of algal derived sustainable bio-oils, and "Citizen Scientist" summer camps will be used to show kids how to collect, identify, culture, and digest algae that are commonly used in biofuel production.

摘要由于气候变化和化石燃料储量的减少，藻类生物燃料等可再生能源的开发已成为国家的优先事项。迄今为止，大多数关于藻类生物燃料的研究都集中在确定“超级物种”--可以进行基因改造并在最大限度地生产可燃脂质的环境条件下生长的藻类菌株。虽然在理想的实验室条件下生长高脂藻类单一培养物相对容易，但将这些培养物扩大到商业上可行的规模一直具有挑战性，其中种群经常大幅波动。单一栽培在捕获和回收营养废物流方面也往往效率低下，导致人们对其环境影响和可持续性的担忧。事实上，有些人认为，单一物种能源生产方法可能会产生困扰单一物种粮食生产方法的同样的环境问题。在绿色革命期间，大片土地被转变为高产作物单作，需要集约化管理和施用生物杀灭剂和肥料以保持生产力。虽然现代农业的出现在养活人类方面取得了巨大成功，但它也成为全球生物多样性丧失、有机污染和水质恶化的主要原因。商业规模的藻类单一栽培生产生物燃料有可能重复许多相同的破坏环境的做法，并提出了同样的挑战，以保护。这是一个可能性，找到'双赢'的情况下，生物多样性和生物燃料生产？我们能否开发可持续的生物燃料，同时避免意外的环境影响并保护作为所有可再生资源最终来源的生命多样性？由密歇根大学的布拉德利·卡迪纳勒、菲利普·萨维奇和尼娜·林教授以及加州圣巴巴拉大学的托德奥克利教授组成的生态学家和工程师跨学科团队相信这是可能的。在这个由美国国家科学基金会通过其新兴前沿研究和创新计划授予的项目中，该团队打算测试这样一个假设，即某些自然多样的藻类群体具有互补的特性，可以提高生物燃料产量的效率和稳定性，超出任何单一物种可以单独实现的水平。这一假设源于大量的生态研究，这些研究表明，每当物种专门利用营养物质或光线，或对环境波动作出不同的反应时，不同的群落将（a）更有效地捕获可用资源，（B）产生更多的生物量，甚至比单一的最具生产力的物种，（c）随着时间的推移保持更稳定的产量。 这项工作的最终目标是确定最具生产力和可持续性的多物种藻类生物燃料系统，然后从长远来看，将这些系统扩大到商业上可行的生物精炼厂。该项目工作的主要成果之一将是生成一个新的基因组学数据库，该数据库将识别编码生物原油生产中所涉及的代谢途径的基因。 该数据库不仅有助于识别导致生物燃料生产的遗传密码，还将为未来希望使用基因工程来进一步提高藻类生物燃料的效率，生产力和稳定性的研究人员提供该密码。调查小组与密歇根大学工程多样性和外联中心以及美国生态学会的种子推广服务等既定项目合作，以帮助选择学生人员。利用这些计划将促进少数群体参与科学研究，将研究人员与正在寻求研究机会的少数民族和经济弱势群体联系起来。除了培训一批新的科学家外，该团队还与莱斯利科学自然中心合作，促进可持续藻类生物燃料的公众教育。 莱斯利科学自然中心是密歇根州的一家非营利组织，每年为25，000名游客提供环境教育和体验，其中大部分是幼儿园到高中的学生。 将开发一个实践科学展览，向公众介绍藻类衍生的可持续生物油的好处，并将使用“公民科学家”夏令营向孩子们展示如何收集，识别，培养和消化生物燃料生产中常用的藻类。