$900G for biofuels research goes to 3 universities
Monday, December 8, 2008 5:52 AM EST
By Luther Turmelle, North Bureau Chief
The state has awarded more than $900,000 in grant money to three Connecticut universities for research into biofuels.
The grants will go to Yale University, the University of New Haven and the University of Connecticut, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Friday.
The grants were awarded through the Fuel Diversification Grant Program, which is administered by Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and funded by the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
“Our future and the future of our children depend on finding more efficient, less harmful sources to meet our growing energy needs,” Rell said. “The Fuel Diversification Grant Program will help make it financially feasible for institutions to explore the use of sources such agricultural products, algae and waste grease for energy production.”
The largest portion of the grant money — $607,944 — will be going to UConn, said DECD Commissioner Joan McDonald. UConn will receive two separate grants: $598,244 to be used to develop capability for remote monitoring and build a biodiesel testing laboratory as well as $9,700 to be used to research catalysts for conversion of biomass into biofuel.
The other two grants involve research associated with turning algae into biofuel.
Yale will receive $69,752 to research algae feedstock growth optimization or maximizing the ability to grow algae as a biofuel component. UNH will receive $135,276 to identify species of algae from Long Island Sound that could be cultivated to produce biodiesel.
One of the leaders of the UNH research team — Eddie Luzik, an associate chemistry professor at the West Haven school — said the quality of algae in relation to its usability for creating biofuel is likely to vary depending on what part of Long Island Sound it is harvested from and the time of year.
“There’s quite a bit of algae out there, but things tend to vary in a natural system,” Luzik said. “We have different terrain out there. That’s why we have to evaluate the different species that we have here ... and see how much oil we can get out of it.”
The oil is extracted from the algae using a process called supercritical fluid extraction, which makes use of liquid carbon dioxide, he said.
That process is considered more environmentally friendly than other methods of developing biofuels using algae, Luzik said. One method uses genetically engineered algae, he said.
“No one is going to let that kind of material be released into Long Island Sound,” Luzik said.
Elliot Ginsberg, president and chief executive officer of the advanced-technology center said the research being funded by the grants has the potential to both expand growth of an environmentally friendly industry in the state as well provide a benefit to both commercial and individual consumers.
“In order to create and sustain Connecticut’s biodiesel industry, consumers must be confident that producers create high-quality biodiesel,” Ginsberg said.
Luther Turmelle can be reached at lturmelle@nhregister.com or 789-5706.
