ISU dedicates BioCentury Research Farm
January 1, 1970
Posted October 6, 2009, at 8:13 a.m. CST
Iowa State University dedicated a combination farm and bioprocessing facility last month to research the production of biomass and bioproducts.
The BioCentury Research Farm will study feedstock production; harvesting, storing and transporting of feedstocks; changes in land use arising from harvesting corn stover and other plants; new ways to process a variety of feedstocks into bioproducts; and the socioeconomic impacts on Iowa agriculture.
Larry Johnson, professor of food science and human nutrition who directs the Center for Crops Utilization Research at ISU, will be the director of the new farm. He said the integrated concept of the research farm is essential for developing the next generation of bioproducts.
"It is imperative that plant scientists and agronomists work closely with chemists and engineers. Our agriculture was designed to produce food, feed and fiber, which it does very efficiently, but now we are asking agriculture to produce fuels and industrial chemicals. To be successful we must focus on integrated systems, not individual pieces by themselves. What one does in plant genetics can affect the conversion process, total systems must be optimized to successfully compete with fossil fuels," he said.
The facility contains three processing trains: biochemical, thermochemical and bioprocessing. The trains are designed to contain production-scale equipment.
The farm is seeking industrial partners to develop research projects by contacting Johnson at (515) 294-0160 or ljohnson@iastate.edu.
The nearly $19 million project's processing facility is adjacent to a 1,000 acre farm where biomass research projects are underway. Funding for the facility was obtained from several sources. Government funds came from the Small Business Administration, the USDA and the Iowa Department of Economic Development. DuPont, through Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., pledged $1 million over five years to the project. In-kind gifts of equipment have come from Vermeer Corp., Rockwell Automation, Deere & Co., AGCO, Johnson & Johnson and Van Meter Industries.
The Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station at ISU and the Committee for Agricultural Development, affiliated with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, contributed the land used by the farm and for the field-based biomass research. The Experiment Station also has installed about $500,000 of infrastructure in the farm, in the form of instrumentation and drainage improvements for research on carbon sequestration, carbon cycling, soil quality, nutrient and water quality management.
SOURCE: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
Iowa State University dedicated a combination farm and bioprocessing facility last month to research the production of biomass and bioproducts.
The BioCentury Research Farm will study feedstock production; harvesting, storing and transporting of feedstocks; changes in land use arising from harvesting corn stover and other plants; new ways to process a variety of feedstocks into bioproducts; and the socioeconomic impacts on Iowa agriculture.
Larry Johnson, professor of food science and human nutrition who directs the Center for Crops Utilization Research at ISU, will be the director of the new farm. He said the integrated concept of the research farm is essential for developing the next generation of bioproducts.
"It is imperative that plant scientists and agronomists work closely with chemists and engineers. Our agriculture was designed to produce food, feed and fiber, which it does very efficiently, but now we are asking agriculture to produce fuels and industrial chemicals. To be successful we must focus on integrated systems, not individual pieces by themselves. What one does in plant genetics can affect the conversion process, total systems must be optimized to successfully compete with fossil fuels," he said.
The facility contains three processing trains: biochemical, thermochemical and bioprocessing. The trains are designed to contain production-scale equipment.
The farm is seeking industrial partners to develop research projects by contacting Johnson at (515) 294-0160 or ljohnson@iastate.edu.
The nearly $19 million project's processing facility is adjacent to a 1,000 acre farm where biomass research projects are underway. Funding for the facility was obtained from several sources. Government funds came from the Small Business Administration, the USDA and the Iowa Department of Economic Development. DuPont, through Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., pledged $1 million over five years to the project. In-kind gifts of equipment have come from Vermeer Corp., Rockwell Automation, Deere & Co., AGCO, Johnson & Johnson and Van Meter Industries.
The Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station at ISU and the Committee for Agricultural Development, affiliated with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, contributed the land used by the farm and for the field-based biomass research. The Experiment Station also has installed about $500,000 of infrastructure in the farm, in the form of instrumentation and drainage improvements for research on carbon sequestration, carbon cycling, soil quality, nutrient and water quality management.
SOURCE: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
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