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Sun Grant Western Regional Center
2007 U.S. Department of Transportation-Funded
Competitive Grants Program>
SECTION 1. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
THE SUN GRANT INITIATIVE
As readily accessible domestic sources of petroleum have waned, the United States has steadily increased its reliance on oil imported from other nations. The proportion of imported oil increased from about 30% of domestic consumption in 1970 to about 56% in 2000 (Report of the National Energy Policy Development Group, 2001). This trend has raised concerns about the nation’s energy security. Much of our imported oil originates from nations with unstable or repressive governments.
The Sun Grant Initiative was conceived to partner the national network of land-grant universities and federal laboratories to build a biobased economy that would reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and enhance economic diversification in rural areas of the United States. Potential products include: biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, electrical power, lubricants, plastics, solvents, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and building materials. The Initiative will broaden the role that land grant universities play by also focusing the efforts of these universities on renewable energy and biobased industries.
Authorized by Congress in 2004, the Sun Grant Initiative is a national network
of land-grant universities and U.S. Department of Energy laboratories partnering
to build a biobased economy. Sun Grant institutions are charged with making
significant advances in biobased industries for the benefit of America's independent
farmers, rural communities, and public at large.
The mission of the Sun Grant Initiative is to
- enhance national energy security through development, distribution and implementation of biobased energy technologies,
- promote diversification in and the environmental sustainability of, agricultural production in the United States through biobased energy and products technologies;
- promote economic diversification in rural areas of the United States through biobased energy and product technologies; and
- enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development programs through improved coordination and collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the land-grant colleges and universities.
The Sun Grant Initiative is organized as a network of five land-grant universities serving as regional Sun Grant Centers: South Dakota State University (North-Central), Oregon State University (Western), Oklahoma State University (South-Central), the University of Tennessee Knoxville (Southeastern), and Cornell University (Northeastern).
These centers will facilitate federally funded research, extension, and education programs in their respective regions. These programs will embrace the multi-institution, multi-state, multi-disciplinary integrated approach that is at the heart of the land-grant method of addressing problems.
SUN GRANT WESTERN REGIONAL CENTER
The Sun Grant Western Regional Center (WRC), located at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, is the administrative unit for the region composed of the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and the Pacific Territories and associated Pacific island nations, including American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
PROGRAM PRIORITIES
In accordance with the Sun Grant authorization, the WRC will allocate 75% of federal funds received for national and regional efforts. The WRC thus invites proposals for support of research, extension, and education that will further the Sun Grant mission of developing viable, alternative, biobased fuel and energy sources and products while enhancing economic opportunities in rural areas. Western region research priorities for the 2007 grant cycle fall into priority program areas identified by the Biobased Transportation Research Program, including: Feedstocks, Bioprocessing, and Bioproducts. In order to make biobased economic diversification a reality, the region needs education and outreach about the benefits and impacts of biobased industries and renewable energy as well as better economic and marketing data analysis. WRC encourages proposal to include education and outreach activities and when applicable, each proposal should include an economic justification and analysis.
WRC funded projects are expected to disseminate project derived information. At least one product of significance, i.e., Experiment Station report, Extension bulletin or white paper is required for all funded projects. Ideally, at least one peer-reviewed article would result from WRC funded research. Investigators must acknowledge U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and WRC in all publications and presentations.
WRC expects to be funded for the next four Federal fiscal years (FY2007-10) by a grant from DOT. Grants will be competitively awarded to both individual and collaborative (two or more investigators of different disciplines or institutions that actively participate in the proposed work and receive funding) projects. Individual projects will be funded up to three years at a maximum of $100,000 per year. Collaborative projects will be funded at a maximum funding level of about $300,000 per year up to a maximum of three years but no more than $600,000 overall. DOT requires a match of 20% for research and extension projects, and up to 100% match is strongly recommended for demonstration or pilot projects. The amount of non-federal funding will be considered in the review process.
Proposals should clearly state how the project objectives address the priority program areas. In addition to programmatic priorities, greater weight will be given to projects which demonstrate:
- Strong relevance to the Sun Grant mission
- Technology development or technology implementation
- Multi-institutional or multi-state participation
- Non-university collaboration and stakeholder participation or strong linkage to appropriate stakeholders or user groups
- Inclusion of research, education, or extension activities
- Positive impact on the local, regional or national economy with a potential for payoff within two to three years
- Focus on use of regional feedstocks
- Attention to small-scale or distributed energy systems
Projects must meet one or more of the objectives in the program areas. Please note that proposals need not meet all of the objectives for any given program area to be considered for funding. Proposals must show displacement of petroleum through the enhancement of the biobased economy. Objectives and desired outcomes for the three program areas are presented below.
A. Feedstock Enhancement and Development
Feedstock research is a priority because technology has not been developed for the diverse array of raw materials originating or adapted to the Western region. Feedstock projects should capitalize on the unique characteristics and the diversity of available, alternative or new feedstocks. Additionally, projects should assist rural communities in understanding the feasibility and economic impacts of developing a biomass feedstock industry. This program area complements both Bioprocessing and Bioproducts, as it provides the raw biomass for those program areas.
Goal:
To promote economic diversification through biomass development in rural areas taking into consideration unique regional characteristics.Objectives:
1. To assess the feasibility and availability of alternate raw materials for biofuels, bioenergy and other bioproducts generation. Strategies of interest include plant breeding and selection, crop agronomics for optimal sustainable yields, sustainable harvests, multiple land use for feedstock production and wildlife habitat, soil and water conservation, air quality, and global climate change.2. To identify economically viable biofuel opportunities from regionally available and economically viable raw materials.
3. Mitigate environmental and social impacts associated with the production of feedstocks.
Benchmarks/Desired Outcomes:
Short term
- Identify economically viable raw materials.
- Develop proof of concept.
Long term
- Prioritize best choices for the region or subregion (e.g., tropics, arctic).
- Make production economically feasible.
Evaluation/Metrics
- Strong technical merit
- Potential for rural and/or economic development
- Minimizes negative social and environmental impacts
B. Biomass Conversion and Biofuel/BioEnergy Processing
Biomass conversion is a priority – making it efficient, economical, and environmentally sound – to take advantage of the region’s diversity of feedstocks. Other targeted aspects of processing research include systems integration, biological or thermal gasification products (largely fossil fuel substitutions), biodiesel and ethanol process enhancements.
Goal:
To develop or improve conversion or separation technologies for feedstock pre-processing, efficient separations into biomass components parts, intermediate building blocks separation efficiencies and process streams, and quantification of processing yields and efficiencies.Objectives:
- To develop efficient, economical and environmentally sound conversion processes for renewable crops, biomass residues or waste streams. Activities could include conversion efficiency, cost of production, enzymatic or thermo-chemical conversion.
- To develop integrated systems for the conversion of feedstocks into intermediate building blocks or biofuels and other bioproducts.
- Mitigate environmental and social impacts associated with biofuel production through use of sustainable practices.
Benchmarks/Desired Outcomes:
Short term
- Identify improved processing technologies for feedstock conversion and separation of biomass components.
- Develop proof of concept.
Long Term
- Prioritize best choices for the region or subregion (e.g., tropics, arctic)
- Make production economically feasibl
Evaluation/Metrics
- Strong technical merit
- Strong technical merit
- Potential for rural and/or economic development
- Minimized negative social and environmental impacts
C. Bioproducts
Numerous Bioproducts are already produced from agricultural, forestry, and fish based products in the West and research has indicated the potential for many others which have the ability to reduce or replace the use of petroleum.
Goal:
To develop biofuels conversion processes and systems analyses that yield bioproducts with positive market and economic impactsObjectives:
- Identify valuable bioproducts, their coproducts and their production technologies to enhance the economic viability of the bioconversion processes.
- Analyze systems such as industrial ecology, feedstock transport and delivery, and biofuel transport and delivery infrastructure to improve economics and feasibility.
- Identify appropriate resources
- Define useful characteristics of and develop markets for co-products
- Devise strategies to mitigate environmental impacts associated with production of biofuels, such as greenhouse gas emissions, carbon, energy balance, and NOX emissions, among others.
Benchmarks/Desired Outcomes:Short-term
- Resource characterization.
- Identification of priority co-products.
- Characterization of co-products and potential uses.
- Conversion of co-products to specific products.
- Increase in specific crop (or bioproduct) quantities.
- Intellectual products and technology transfer that accrues.
Long-term
- Increase in number of businesses established.
- Measures of impacts on acreages.
Evaluation/Metrics
- Strong technical merit
- Potential for rural and/or economic development
- Minimized negative social and environmental impacts
SPECIAL NOTE
WRC will not be able to notify applicants in writing of grant decisions until July 15, 2007, due to a review request by federal agencies.
CONTACT PERSON FOR QUESTIONS
Jan Auyong, Executive Director
Western Sun Grant Regional Center
138 Strand Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-9353
Fax: 541-737-3178
Email: sungrant@oregonstate.edu
http://sungrant.oregonstate.edu