The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/10/09 Section: News

LEE

While traveling through the heavily populated city of Sao Paulo in Brazil, a University official noticed something unique about its gas stations.

"When you go to a gas station in Brazil, you have the choice: you can either pump pure ethanol or you can pump this gasoline/ethanol mix, and typically people make the choice depending on whatever the price is," said David Lee, vice president for research.

Brazilian consumers can make a choice at the pump because many are driving flex-fuel cars, or vehicles that run on a mixture of gasoline and ethanol, or pure forms of either. The flex-fuel cars have reduced greenhouse emissions by 90 percent in Brazil, Lee said.

University researchers recently met with Brazilians in an effort to form international relationships that will further both countries' bioenergy progress.

Though the U.S. and Brazil lead the production of ethanol in the world, they are seeking to improve the process of creating this sustainable, alternative fuel, Lee said. The current pathway used is that of cellulosic ethanol, or second generation ethanol.

"Right now, most of the U.S. makes its ethanol from corn, but to develop biofuels in a sustainable way, we have to develop second generation biofuels," Lee said. That means taking plant materials and breaking down its cellulose into constituents and turning that into ethanol.

Brazil's use of sugarcane produces several bioproducts, including sugar, ethanol and electricity, Lee said. The leftover material from sugarcane, called baggasse, or "Buh-goss," is burned at a very high temperature to produce electricity that is able to power the sugar ethanol mill. It may also be used to convert into energy, Lee said.

Cue the entrance of the University's Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.

"Our goal in life is to look at the biology of complex carbohydrates," said Alan Darvill, co-director of the CCRC. It is the largest center in the world that studies carbohydrates, which make up cellulose in plants. It contains the analytical, high-tech equipment necessary to study the complex structures of carbohydrates, he said.

The University may collaborate with Brazilian researchers, who are interested in plant carbohydrates, to build a similar center as the CCRC. Professor Marcos Buckeridge from the University of Sao Paulo will visit the CCRC in the summer to discuss the possibility of working together in the future, Darvill said.

Continued...

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