Sustainable Biofuels Production from Drought-tolerant Bioenergy Crops in Marginal Environment

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PI: Lin, HongfeiProposal Number: 1337017Institution: University of Nevada RenoTitle: Sustainable Biofuels Production from Drought-tolerant Bioenergy Crops in Marginal EnvironmentSustainable production of lignocellulosic biofuels relies upon the sufficient supply of biomass feedstocks. Drought-tolerant bioenergy crops growing on arid, marginal lands, such as Agave and Opuntia, which store large amounts of water and carbohydrates, have enormous potential as dedicated biofuel feedstocks because they do not compete with food production and minimize the use of water and fertilizer resources. However, the lack of water-use efficient and cost-effective bio-refining processes hinders the deployment of biofuel production facilities in vast arid and semi-arid areas that cover more than 40% of the world?s land surface.This project will develop an integrated pathway to convert arid land plants into advanced biofuels with high water-use efficiency. The key step is the catalytic aqueous phase partial oxidation (APPO), a novel, environmentally benign biomass deconstruction process that can selectively synthesize valued carboxylic acids using water and lean air as the reaction media and metal oxides as non-toxic catalysts. APPO is also a water-positive process because it utilizes wet biomass as the feedstock, retaining water stored in raw biomass, and produces extra water during the processing of biomass. The reclaimed water from the APPO process can supplement water resources for cultivating bioenergy crops. Moreover, the APPO products (e.g., levulinic acid) can be upgraded readily into drop-in transportation fuel components consisting of mainly hydrocarbons. In short, APPO is a highly promising, cost-effective biomass deconstruction process with high water-use efficiency, which is critical for commercial production of advanced biofuels in vast arid and semi-arid lands in the United States and around the world.The goal of this proposal is to explore the underlying physical and chemical mechanisms that control the biomass deconstruction in the APPO process and to demonstrate the water sustainability in the integrated biofuel production process by recycling water between the conversion and cultivation of the bioenergy crops. To fulfill this goal, the PIs will investigate the fundamentals of the APPO process by in-depth experimental and theoretical studies and build a life cycle analysis (LCA) model to evaluate water usage. The outcomes of this project will guide the design of highly efficient and robust APPO catalysts for cost-effective production of advanced biofuels, and will predict the feasibility of commercial biorefineries in water-limited locations such as Nevada and the entire western United States.This project will integrate research on chemical engineering, agriculture, environment, and biofuels with educational and outreach efforts to demonstrate the importance of science and engineering. The results from this proposal will be disseminated across a wide audience through the Nevada Renewable Energy Consortium (NVREC). The newest research outcomes will be presented to groups across campus as well as the local community in the Biofuels/Biomass Journal Club at UNR. The research results will also be incorporated into the current graduate and undergraduate level courses in a timely manner. Undergraduate and graduate students will be trained on this project under the PIs? close mentoring. The outreach activities will include oral and poster presentations targeted at students from selected local high schools and the general public during the annual Ag Field Day hosted by UNR.