Innovation in Bioethanol Research

液体运输燃料约占加拿大总能源消耗的35%。作为减少对化石燃料依赖的战略的一部分，联邦政府已经要求在2010年之前用乙醇取代至少5%的汽油。赫斯基能源是加拿大淀粉乙醇生产的领先者之一。目前的经济危机，伴随着高商品价格和低燃料价格，对加拿大的生物乙醇产业构成了重大挑战。马尼托巴大学生物乙醇创新项目致力于生物乙醇生产的整个价值链，以提高各级的盈利能力和效率。尽管玉米是生产乙醇最理想的淀粉基谷物，但寒冷的条件和较短的生长季节限制了加拿大西部的玉米产量。冬小麦是产量最高的以淀粉为基础的谷物替代品，可以有效地用于生产乙醇。因此，该项目的目标是培育为生物乙醇工业提供优质无病原料的可靠来源的冬小麦品种，开展基础研究，以提高对谷物淀粉生物合成与产量之间关系的了解，并通过生物工程提高原料向乙醇的转化。这项研究的一部分致力于确定随着新技术的开发，将目前的基础设施从以淀粉为基础的乙醇生产过渡到以纤维素为基础的能源生产的可行性和所需步骤。这项研究将通过提供生产者愿意种植和营销乙醇行业的可靠原料来源来提高生物乙醇行业的盈利能力。生物乙醇工艺的改进将提供更高的乙醇原料转化率，并减少生产低价值联产产品的数量。通过评估淀粉生产和产量的生理学研究获得的基本知识将为提高谷物产量提供长期战略，用于未来的食品、饲料和燃料用途。这些改进对于确保燃料生产利益不会危及全球粮食供应至关重要。

Liquid transportation fuels represent approximately 35% of the total energy consumption in Canada. The federal government has mandated a replacement of at least 5% of gasoline with ethanol by the year 2010 as part of a strategy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Husky Energy is one of the leaders in starch-based ethanol production in Canada. The current economic crisis, accompanied by high commodity prices and low fuel prices, has significantly challenged the bioethanol industry in Canada. The University of Manitoba Innovation in Bioethanol program addresses the full value-chain of bioethanol production to improve profitability and efficiency at all levels. Although corn is the most desirable starch-based cereal for ethanol production, cool conditions and a short growing season limit corn production in Western Canada. Winter wheat is the highest yielding alternative starch-based cereal that can be used effectively for ethanol production. Therefore, the objectives of this project are to develop winter wheat cultivars that provide a reliable source of high-quality disease-free feedstocks for the bioethanol industry, conduct fundamental research that will improve the understanding of the relationship between starch biosynthesis and yield in cereals, and improve the conversion of feedstocks to ethanol through bioengineering. A portion of the research is dedicated to determining the feasibility and steps required to transition the current infrastructure from starch-based ethanol production to cellulose-based energy production as new technologies are developed. This research will improve the profitability of the bioethanol industry by providing a reliable source of feedstock that producers are willing to grow and market the ethanol industry. Improvements in the bioethanol processing will provide higher feedstock conversion rates to ethanol and reduce the quantity of lower value co-product produced. Fundamental knowledge learned through physiological studies that evaluate starch production and yield will provide long-term strategies for improvement of grain yields for future food, feed and fuel purposes. Such improvements are critical to ensuring that interests in fuel production do not endanger access to food globally.