Mascoma Corporation, a company started by Dartmouth engineering professors that develops low-cost, renewable fuels, recently received a $14.8 million grant from the state of New York to build a new processing plant near Rochester. Mascoma, founded in 2005 by Thayer School of Engineering professors Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman, will use the grant to demonstrate its ability to convert cellulose-based plant materials into ethanol.
Though regarded as a promising alternative to gasoline, ethanol is typically produced from corn, which is expensive to transport and available only in limited quantities. Mascoma's recent work, however, allows fuel to be produced from other materials.
To avoid the financial and logistical complications inherent in the production of ethanol from corn, a number of companies have begun to look into using cellulose-based plant materials as an alternative to corn. Making fuel from cellulosic plant material is more complicated than using corn, but Mascoma aims to simplify the profess.
Lynd and Wyman have spent many years researching cellulosic ethanol. The new plant in Rochester will build upon this research by using genetically enhanced microbes to convert plant material into ethanol. Unlike traditional, more expensive manufacturing processes, Mascoma's will depend on microorganisms that can digest the cellulose and ferment the resulting sugar in one step instead of the traditional two separate steps, cutting costs and boosting production.
The company wants to present ethanol as a viable alternative to other fuels.
"Our main focus is 'bottom-up' research focusing on breakthrough strategies for low-cost processing of cellulosic biomass to liquid transportation fuels," Lynd said.
"We also approach the subject of the sustainable resource transition from a 'top-down' perspective, including considerations such as resource supply, forecasting of future technology, and envisioning sustainable energy futures."
Mascoma's new 15,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to open late 2007 or early 2008, will produce roughly 500,000 gallons of biomass ethanol per year. The plant will use agricultural and forest products, including paper sludge, wood chips, corn stover, and switch grass as sources of raw energy.
Although the initial production of 500,000 gallons per year will be minute relative to the 150 billion gallons of petroleum that Americans consume annually, Lynd said that the company aims to lead the cellulosic biofuel industry with advanced technology and by expanding facilities.
Biofuels, besides having the potential to decrease dependency on fossil fuels, also release fewer tailpipe emissions than gas when added to car fuel.
"I believe that plant biomass has clear potential to become a major provider of energy services, and that transportation fuel is likely the highest priority use for biomass in this context," Lynd said. "However, this outcome will require societal changes as well as advanced technology."
