Project Overview

The Project will produce a comprehensive, strategic roadmap that will be designed to achieve the following out comes: 

1. The retention and growth of vibrant Alabama companies and industry clusters
2. The diversification of the State’s economic base with technology-and knowledge-intensive companies
3. The growth and support of entrepreneurship
4. Universities that are both well-positioned to compete for students, faculty, and sponsored research in national and global arenas and to commercialize innovations with Alabama companies
5. Growth of federal, state, and private investment in Alabama’s science and technology assets
6. A well-prepared, healthy, and innovative workforce
7. Strong alignment of public policy and funding, institutional priorities, and private sector investment to produce prosperity and jobs in Alabama

The Project represents a major collaboration among the Alabama Research Alliance, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Alabama Development Office, and the Alabama EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research). Guiding the project is a steering committee of key public and private sector leaders from across the State.

Larry Fillmer, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Mangement & Development Institute is one of a 23 member committee on Energy Technology who recently produced a white paper on opportunities in the area of energy technology for the state of Alabama.  A .pdf of that white paper will be made available online shortly, both here and on the NRMDI website.

If you have questions or would like additional information, contact Larry Fillmer at (334) 844-6140.

BIRMINGHAM – Governor Bob Riley yesterday  urged academic, business and economic development experts to continue their collaboration to help Alabama reach its potential as a global leader in science and technology.

Speaking at the Alabama Science and Technology Leadership Summit in Birmingham, Governor Riley thanked the group for their hard work and said that the gathering reflected an unprecedented level of cooperation.

The summit, held at the headquarters of SurModics Pharmaceuticals, marked the halfway point in an effort to create the Alabama Science and Technology Roadmap, a plan to attract and grow science and technology jobs for Alabamians.

“Alabama has many world-class science and technology assets that we want to nurture and grow,” Governor Riley said. “Working together, we can capitalize on these assets to create and retain the high-skilled jobs that are vital to Alabama’s economic future.”

The project’s first phase gathered input from more than 100 leaders across the state to assess science, technology and innovation in Alabama. The assessment indentified six areas of opportunity: health care, energy, aerospace and defense, modeling and simulation applied to the automobile industry, information technology and nanotechnology.

“Our state is in a great position to take advantage of emerging opportunities in these fields,” Governor Riley said, noting Alabama has a strong presence in many of these areas. The Governor also told those gathered at the summit that the state will “continue to be an active partner in these collaborations that foster an environment of progress, competitiveness and innovation. In the innovation economy, we can’t remain fragmented and expect Alabama to compete and win.”

The 160 leaders attending the summit, including university presidents, deans of business schools, CEOs of technology companies and state government representatives, were asked to help with the next phase of the project which will identify specific steps to grow industries in the six areas of opportunity in the state.

The initiative is funded through a combination of grants and awards administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Energy Division.

ADECA Director Doni Ingram said that a science and technology plan will help the state use its resources wisely and compete more effectively for stimulus and other federal funding.

“A strategic plan built on cooperation and partnership will allow ADECA and the Alabama Research Alliance to get the maximum benefit from the available science and technology funds,” Ingram said.

Collaborative Economics, a California-based firm that has helped 35 states and 10 countries develop similar plans, is assisting Alabama to complete the roadmap, which is scheduled for release in January.

A PDF copy of the summit report will soon be available on the Governor’s website at www.governor.alabama.gov.

Participating in the summit on behalf of the Auburn University Office of the Vice President for Research was Larry Fillmer, Exeutive Director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute.

3:59 PM, September 1, 2009

AUBURN – The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Auburn University a $4.9 million grant to develop new production systems to collect woody biomass from pine plantations for making bioenergy.

Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts will lead the project, “High Tonnage Forest Biomass Production Systems from Southern Pine Energy Plantations,” as part of a consortium that includes central Alabama company Corley Land Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and companies from the U.S. and Canada.

“This is a very important grant that will allow us to further develop research into ways of producing more biofuel,” Auburn President Jay Gogue said. “It will help our nation find alternatives to oil and will boost the economy in areas of Alabama that rely on our forests for jobs.”

The center will work with faculty in the university’s Department of Biosystems Engineering and School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, and, in addition to Corley Land Services, the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Operations Research Unit and TigerCat, a leading manufacturer of forestry equipment. Other collaborators include Barnes Enterprises, Blue Ox Forestry and Dixie Pellet.

“We’ll work with leading producers of forest biomass for energy in Alabama to design and demonstrate a high-productivity system to harvest, process and transport the material,” said Steve Taylor, center director. “All of these groups are very close collaborators with Auburn on many research efforts that support the forest products industry and keep our nation’s forests healthy.”

The production process involves harvesting pine trees, allowing them to partially dry, chipping them and transporting the material by tractor-trailers to a biorefinery that may process it into cellulosic biofuels.

Specific project objectives are to improve the design of tree-length harvesting machines to increase productivity and minimize their environmental impacts; assemble a high-productivity, lowest-cost harvesting and transportation system for biomass; and demonstrate and document the performance of this system at an industrial scale. Auburn faculty will work with equipment designers on machine improvements and will develop and implement new sensors and GPS-based systems to help improve the performance of the forest-harvesting machines and to improve the quality of the final biomass product.

“This grant really validates our systems approach to bioenergy, starting at the beginning of the process with emphasis on feedstock production, harvesting, processing and transportation, and finishing with the ultimate conversion either to renewable electricity or biofuels – all the while keeping an eye on costs, environmental impacts and community concerns,” said Larry Fillmer, executive director of Auburn’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute.

The project is one of five projects nationwide funded by the Department of Energy for biomass logistics research and is the only project selected to work in Southern forests.

“This award clearly demonstrates how strategic interdisciplinary research partnerships can yield significant interest at the national level,” added John Mason, Auburn’s associate provost and vice president for research.

Contact: Charles Martin, (334) 844-9999 (marticd@auburn.edu), or
Mike Clardy, (334) 844-9999 (clardch@auburn.edu)

August 21, 2009

Auburn officials help research, monitor first solar power system to be installed on a public building in the state

Researchers with Auburn University’s Space Research Institute have played an integral role in installing a solar power system at Lee County’s T.K. Davis Justice Center, the first public building in the state to be outfitted with such a system.

After months of research and analysis, the Auburn team managed the installation of a 16.56 kW grid-connected solar-powered system on the new addition to the center. The system will offset the energy costs of electricity the building uses.

“The Lee County Commission contracted with Auburn University to procure and install the system, to develop and manage a Web site and to conduct systems analysis and modeling,” said Henry Brandhorst, director of Auburn’s Space Research Institute. “We want to show that solar power is successful and to have others invest in it.”

The photovoltaic power system at the justice center utilizes 72 of the highest-efficiency solar panels currently available on the market, with eight of the panels mounted to a pole on the ground and the rest of the panels mounted on the center’s roof. The system can withstand hurricane force winds up to 110 miles-per-hour and is certified for use on rubber roofs.

Brandhorst and his team spent months designing the system and reviewing site constraints including the center’s roof to determine which portion received the most sunlight throughout the year as the best location for the panels to ensure maximum efficiency. Using models based on 30 to 40 years of weather data for the east Alabama area, he said the team was able to predict the system’s performance.

With the system now up and running, the institute’s researchers are now collecting information from the site including wind speed, actual temperature and how bright the sunshine is. They are comparing the actual data they receive from the system to the information previously generated by the models.

“This gives us a way to make better models and to show people what a cost benefit solar power is,” Brandhorst said. “We can do modeling for residences and show people the amount of power they have to generate until the power becomes free.”

Solar power is a renewable resource and because sunlight is “free,” the cost of this “fuel” is zero. The major costs associated with the project included the purchase of the photovoltaic panels and the electrical inverter equipment to convert the direct current, or DC, electricity from the solar panel into the alternating current, or AC, that is used in the particular loads in the center.

“Every amount of power that we generate is power they don’t need from the grid,” Brandhorst said. And, if the center does not use all the power generated by the solar system on a given day, then their power meter literally runs backwards. The system will eventually pay for itself once the cost savings from the solar panels equals the cost of equipment and installation.

“Solar power systems are costly but costs are continuing to decrease every year,” Brandhorst said.

The project took about eight days to install. Brandhorst said researchers will continue to monitor and collect data regarding the amount of solar power that is generated from the building and its efficiency. The public can view the building’s solar power output in real time on the Web at http://sri.auburn.edu/solardata.htm. Funding for the project was provided by the Alabama Research Alliance, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Energy Division and the Lee County Commission.

U.S. Representative Mike Rogers and AU bioenergy expert, Dr. Steve Taylor

On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Auburn University bioenergy experts gave U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers a tour of research laboratories and demonstrated new technologies that convert grass clippings, wood chips and other biomass sources into ethanol, electricity and gas. Rogers has been instrumental in securing $1.5 million in federal support for biofuel research at Auburn, including the equipment and research taking place in the Bioenergy Lab on Devall Drive. The research is designed to take readily available, non-food and mostly unused biomass and turn it into energy. 

Ed Enoch covered Rogers’ visit to the Auburn campus for the Opelika Auburn News.  Check out his story online.

For additional information about Roger’s visit to the Auburn campus and/or the University’s efforts in the area of bioenergy, contact Steve Taylor, Director of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts at (334) 844-3534.

The 23^rd Annual Alabama Water Resources Conference is a forum for all participants of our water resources community, providing opportunities for conversation about the many multidisciplinary aspects of water resources, and making connections that will improve how we understand the complex water issues that are of importance to this state, the region, and the nation. The Conference Planning Committee encourages you to join in the dialogue.  For additional information, check out the conference agenda or contact Dennis Block of the Auburn University Environmental Institute at: (334) 844-5075.

Municipal Green Waste

1:48 PM, May 6, 2009

AUBURN – A new environmental partnership in Alabama could provide municipalities a way to convert their “green” waste into energy while reducing the amount sent to landfills.

Auburn University is collaborating with the City of Fultondale, Alabama Power Company and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to develop a plan for using the city’s green waste – such as trees, tree limbs, leaves and grass clippings – as a source of clean, renewable energy.

“Fultondale, like other communities, sends tons of green waste to the city landfill each year,” said Steve Taylor, director of Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts. “By using innovative gasification technology available through Auburn University, those limbs and branches could be used to power as many as 500 homes. The first step is making sure the process can be carried out in a manner that is cost effective.”

Auburn researchers are using the university’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit to help evaluate converting Fultondale’s green waste, or biomass, into electricity. The gasification unit, mounted on a tractor-trailer vehicle, is cosponsored by Alabama Power Company, which provides funds to support travel throughout the region to explore new energy opportunities.

Gasification is a thermochemical process in which heat and oxygen break down biomass into a synthesis gas that contains hydrogen and carbon monoxide, both of which are flammable gases. This synthesis gas can be used as a fuel in engines and turbines that power electrical generators.

Researchers from Auburn’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences will install GPS tracking devices on Fultondale city trucks that collect biomass and will record the amount of material delivered to the landfill. They will combine this information with aerial and satellite images of the city to refine computer models for predicting the amount of biomass that will be generated by the city throughout the year.

At the same time, researchers in Auburn’s Department of Biosystems Engineering will be analyzing the material for the amount of energy and ash that it contains and its suitability for large-scale gasification systems.

“This information will be used to develop projections for the cost of implementing a system for biomass gasification and electrical power generation,” Taylor said.

Fultondale is one of several Alabama communities in the Auburn Energy Partners Program using a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Other communities participating in various projects include Gadsden, Enterprise and Henry County.

A demonstration of the use of renewable energy is being held Wednesday and Thursday, May 6-7, at the Fultondale Target store at 3489 Lowery Parkway. The setup includes the Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit as well as Auburn’s Emergency Housing Solution, a large shipping container converted into an emergency shelter that is being powered by the gasification unit at the event.

Students in Auburn’s Design-Build Masters Program built the emergency structure that would be beneficial after natural disasters, such as hurricanes, by using fallen trees to help power temporary housing for disaster victims or the relief effort’s operations centers. The structure also is designed with alternate hookups for grid utilities so it could use municipal water and power if available.

(Written by Charles Martin.)

Contacts: Leslie Parsons (334) 844-6147, (leslie@auburn.edu), or
Charles Martin (334) 844-9999, (marticd@auburn.edu)

Additional coverage concerning the May 6th media event in Fultondale, AL can be found:

In the North Jefferson News at:  http://www.njeffersonnews.com/local/local_story_124193724.html/ 

On CBS 42’s website at: http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Trees-and-Grass-Equals-Electricity/ZbQZFt1LokGCIXI1WtWdkA.cspx

In the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer at: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/breaking_news/story/709400.html  

And in the Birmingham News at:  http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom/2009/05/see_an_ecofriendly_shipping_co.html

The 5^th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference, The Tallapoosa River Basin -Moving Toward More Effective Water Policy will be at the Betty Carol Graham Technology Center at the Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City on Wednesday-Thursday, May 13th-14^th, 2009. This year’s conference will focus on moving toward sustainable water management policy for the Tallapoosa River Basin.

 This year’s organizers and sponsors include the Auburn University Water Resources Center, Alabama Water Watch, the Middle Tallapoosa Clean Water Partnership, Lake Watch of Lake Martin, the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board, and Central Alabama Community College.

Go to www.twp.auburn.edu  and, under TWP Highlights click the  5th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference  link to go to information on the conference, including the Tallapoosa River Basin Management Plan (8.2 megabite pdf file), conference announcement, and conference registration (required for lunch headcount), and additional information.

The Auburn University Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, its Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in cooperation with the Energy Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs have produced and are pleased to make available a guide for those interested in small-scale, municipal biodiesel production from waste vegetable oil (WVO).  Below is an excerpt from the publication.  To access the entire publication as a .pdf, visit our website at:  www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/bio.

Executive Summary

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel alternative to traditional petroleum‐based diesel fuel. Biodiesel is an attractive option for producers who would like to process their own biofuels because it can be made at a relatively small scale using vegetable oils or animal fats. A growing number of municipalities are starting recycling programs to collect and process used cooking oils or waste vegetable oils (WVO) into biodiesel that can be used in the municipal vehicle fleet. This publication provides guidance to municipal small scale fleets on making biodiesel primarily by using cooking oil that has been recycled. Discussion is provided to help the municipality evaluate how much cooking oil might be available in their community; how to develop a recycling program and process the oil into biodiesel; how to test the finished fuel product; and how to store and dispense the fuel. Locally‐produced biodiesel will never be able to eliminate our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. However, it offers an important opportunity for every citizen to become a participant in recycling a waste product into a useful biofuel, which will, in turn, reduce demands on our landfills and wastewater treatment systems, and stretch taxpayer dollars in challenging economic times.

Auburn University has been selected to represent Alabama as the winner of the Southern Growth Policies Board 2009 Innovator Award.  The Natural Resources Management & Development Institute (NRMDI) was chosen from a strong pool of nominees in the Southern region as an outstanding initiative that encourages economic opportunities relating to bio-products, alternative energy, and energy efficiency. As one of 13 Innovators in the Southern region, NRMDI will be publicly honored on Monday, June 8, 2009 in an awards ceremony and reception during Southern Growth Policies Board annual conference, The Business of Southern Energy, in Biloxi, Mississippi. This year’s conference is hosted by Mississippi Governor, Haley Barbour. Additionally, NRMDI will be highlighted in the 2009 Report on the Future of the South. 

For additional information concerning the ongoing activities related to alternative energy at Auburn University’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, visit our website, or contact Center Director, Steve Taylor at taylost@auburn.edu.