ASU renewable biofuel project chosen as finalist for Governor's Innovation Awards

Joe Caspermeyer, Media Relations Manager & Science Editor
(480) 727-0369 | joseph.caspermeyer@asu.edu

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has been honored for its efforts to develop a renewable, high-yield fuel that would work in conventional engines by being selected as one of two finalists for the annual Governor’s Council of Innovation Awards. 

The Governor’s award finalist in the category Innovator of the Year Award for Academia, recognizes an ambitious ASU research effort in which researchers are optimizing photosynthetic microorganisms to produce oils that could be converted to biodiesel fuel. The project leverages key investments from government and industry partners Science Foundation Arizona and British Petroleum.

The photosynthetic microorganisms, called cyanobacteria, are grown in a water-based solution in large, transparent tubes that can be located virtually anywhere. This enables them to take advantage of abundant Southwestern sunshine to produce the oil that is the source of fuel. Smaller than a grain of pollen, these blue-green bacteria require no soil, use less water than traditional crops, and use carbon dioxide as a nutrient source, making them highly sustainable.

"We are pleased that the Governor’s Council has chosen to recognize a major international research effort with partners BP and Science Foundation Arizona to reduce our transportation economy’s dependency on oil and develop cleaner, sustainable sources of energy,” said Dr. George Poste, director of the ASU’s Biodesign Institute and chief scientist of the new Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative. “Our goal is to help meet the Nation’s need for sustainable bioenergy generation that is large-scale, cost-effective and environmentally sound.”

The ASU biofuel project involves a large team of nearly 100 researchers. The project is led by professors Neal Woodbury (project champion), Wim Vermaas (metabolic engineering), and Bruce Rittmann (photobioreactor design and large scale engineering). John McGowen serves as the project manager. Other key members of the ASU team also include researchers David Conz, Roy Curtiss, Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Mark Holl, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Rhett Martineau, Deirdre Meldrum, Robert Roberson, Eric Williams, Paul Westerhoff and Weiwen Zhang.

The project is currently midway through the first testing phase. The laboratory scale system is operational and a large rooftop system has been constructed at ASU. With mathematical modeling tools applied for systems analysis, the rooftop system is the first step in demonstrating the industrial scale feasibility of this approach.

The second testing phase, planned for construction in 2010, will be a 2.5-acre field-scale system located at an APS power plant. This location will enable engineering assessment of the system using flue gas and water recycling from the power plant for growing the cyanobacteria. This second phase is anticipated to validate readiness for commercialization, and—thanks to close affiliation with industry partners throughout each phase— create a setting in which dramatic advances can be realized in a relatively short time.

A better biofuel
Unlike current biofuels like corn-based ethanol and soy/palm oil, the use of photosynthetic bacteria in the production of biofuel avoids use of arable land for crops and also eliminates the need for costly and complex processing.

The lack of competition with food production, along with a higher yield per acre, gives the bacteria-based system the potential to replace fossil fuels in a major way, something which other biofuels cannot accomplish given the land mass required and/or growing cycles. Furthermore, the bacteria can be fed carbon dioxidesuch as that from conventional coal burning power plants—creating a carbon neutral energy source.

“The platform for renewable solar energy-to-biofuels combines innovative metabolic engineering with state-of-the-art, large-scale bioprocess engineering, cost-effective production of biodiesel, and other valuable byproducts,” said Neal Woodbury, deputy director of the Biodesign Institute and director of the Center for BioOptical Nanotechnology. 

High school researchers shine
The future is also bright for a pair of high school students who have performed cutting-edge research at the institute. Corona del Sol High School student Smitha Ramakrishna joins Shemonti Hasan from Hamilton High School as one of five students recognized in the Governor’s Council “Innovator of Tomorrow” category. Each of these students will receive a $1,000 scholarship to further enhance their education.

An emerging question in the water-quality field is what happens to consumer products that get flushed down the sewer, such as artificial sweeteners. “Having Smitha on our team gave us an opportunity to explore this new topic,” said Bruce Rittmann, director of the institute’s Center for Environmental Biotechnology.

Hasan explored the complex biochemistry of medical diagnostic research under the mentorship of graduate student Matt Greving in the institute’s Center for BioOptical Nanotechnology. Hasan, along with her teacher Teresa Clark, were paired up to participate in Arizona’s largest summer high school bioscience internship program.

"We were very impressed by the caliber of students we hosted this past summer, said Richard Fisher, Biodesign Institute director of Educational Outreach. "in addition, by including teachers for the first time in our internship program, we helped introduce more students to potential bioscience careers than ever before, with a potential impact on more than 4,000 Arizona high school students in the current academic year alone.” 

Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on November 13 at the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix. The event will commemorate the top technological and business achievements of the year.

The Arizona Technology Council, in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce, chose the finalists for the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation in their respected categories. The award recipients were selected by an independent selection committee comprised of local business and academic leaders, based on their contribution to the business and technology community and their technological innovation. One company, within each category, will be announced as the winner on the night of the awards gala.

An innovative tradition
The 2008 honors represent the fifth year in a row that ASU has been a finalist for the Innovation Award for Academia. In 2007, Roy Curtiss III, director of the institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology was selected as a finalist for his research team’s efforts is to benefit humankind by improving the health of individuals, especially children, throughout the world.

Curtiss, a professor in the School of Life Sciences, leads a worldwide effort to tame Salmonella, a bacterium that is the leading cause of food poisoning, by making Salmonella harmless and then using it to treat a variety of infectious diseases. If effective, this technology has the potential to be used for a range of existing and new vaccines. Current disease targets include pneumonia, hepatitis, tuberculosis, plague and human and avian flu.

In 2006, Biodesign researcher Bert Jacobs and his team, also in the institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, won the award for a project to create a vaccine that can cure smallpox infections in their early stages and also provide a powerful tool for fighting a host of other viral pathogens, including a new project directed at HIV.

In 2005, the Biodesign Insitute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology won the Innovator of the Year award again for a project led by researchers Charles Arznten and Tsafrir Mor involving a multi-pronged research effort to prevent HIV infection.

In 2004, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering’s Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC) was also bestowed with top honors for their iCARE research project, which has developed several projects to help people who are visually impaired recognize text, people and environments.

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About the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation
The Governor’s Celebration of Innovation was established in 2003 by combining two technology award ceremonies: the High Tech Industry Cluster’s 17-year Innovator of the Year awards ceremony and the Arizona Software and Internet Association’s 10-year “Celebration of Innovation.” With the addition of the Governor’s support, the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation has become the premier technology community gathering of its kind in Arizona. This year’s event features a theme of “Shift to Green” highlighting green technologies and will honor internationally recognized architect, artist and philosopher Paolo Soleri with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition for his contributions in addressing Arizona’s issues of sustainability and the environment. Tickets for the prestigious awards gala include the pre-award show cocktail reception, awards ceremony, strolling dinner and a VIP Backstage “Green Room” party, and can be purchased at http://www.aztechcouncil.org

About the Arizona Technology Council
The Arizona Technology Council is a private, not-for-profit trade association founded to connect, represent and support the states expanding technology industry. To promote economic growth and professional development in Arizonas technology sector, the Council provides members networking opportunities, business support and access to educational forums. The Council strives to distinguish Arizona as a leader in the technology community and offer resources that are exclusive to its members. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org

About the Arizona Department of Commerce
Collaborating with economic development partners statewide, the Arizona Department of Commerce works to create jobs, expand the tax base, increase per capita income and promote a globally competitive business environment. The agency provides reliable information and research, community assistance, targeted business attraction and development coupled with strategic workforce development. Nationally and internationally, the Department of Commerce promotes Arizona assets: a growing, high-tech workforce; competitive operating environment; easy access to major markets; affordable, available real estate; reliable utilities; abundant natural resources and an unmatched quality of life. For more information, visit www.azcommerce.com