Courtesy of the Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterThe Donald Danforth Plant Science Center received a $25 million dollar gift from Jack and Susan Taylor, the founders of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels, last week. The funds will help scientists pursue biofuel research and alter the genetic composition of plants used for energy consumption. William Danforth matched the donation, bringing the total to $50 million.
“The rental car company uses a lot of petroleum and puts a lot of CO2 into the air,” said William Danforth, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University. “They’re really interested in the long run and finding out how to do a better job of protecting the environment by using bioenergy and liquid fuels.”
Jack and Susan Taylor have invested in other areas of the environment and just pledged to finance the planting of 50 million trees over the next 50 years. They gave $10 million to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in 2005.
The Danforth Center is currently working on research that complements biofuels such as E85, fuel that is 85 percent ethanol alcohol and 15 percent gasoline.
“Most cars, anything in the last 30 years, can do well on fuel that’s 10 percent ethanol. But when it gets to fuel that is 85 percent ethanol, you need a more recent car designed to be a flex fuel,” said Danforth.
Along with the buying public, Enterprise Rent-A-Car also is stocking its leasing fleet with flex fuel cars and gas stations across the country are starting to sell E85 along with regular gas.
By the time flex fuel cars are widespread, the Danforth Center research may be well on its way. Researchers are currently investigating ways to alter the genetic components of plants like soybeans, canola and corn, that can be easily converted into ethanol. Seeds from these plants yield fixed ratios of oil, proteins and starch, but, “what will be possible is to change those ratios, so you can make more oil or more protein,” said Roger Beachy, president of the Danforth Center and professor of biology.
A larger percentage of oil could help farmers market and sell their crops, said Beachy. Researchers are also planning to alter the type and quality of oil produced.
“Eventually, we would expect that more of these feed stocks or material for conversion would come from the stems of the plants instead of the seeds. That will make it more possible to use forest residues or switchgrass, or maybe even some of the corn stalks that are not used for ethanol production,” said Beachy.
If successful, this botanical research could produce an abundance of organic materials for biodiesel and E85. Other research targets include increasing drought tolerance and disease resistance in crops such as corn and soybeans and boosting the yield of crops used in biofuels. Increased biofuel production will be important for reducing the overall industrial costs.
“You need drought tolerance so you don’t have to irrigate as much; you need to have more disease resistance so the farmer doesn’t need to apply pesticides, which raises the cost and potentially harms the environment. All of these things together will make for a more efficient agriculture,” said Beachy.
Washington University may be working with the Danforth Plant Science Center in the future. Professor of Biology Himadri Pakrasi has applied for a grant from the national Department of Energy with the ambition to establish a center for the science of renewable fuels. The two winning centers that apply for the grant will split $250 million.
“Between the two, Washington University and Danforth Center, there would be a tremendous synergy and we would certainly work with others in the region, University of Missouri, Monsanto and others,” said Beachy.
The Danforth Center will hire three new faculty members with the money from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. They will then establish their own labs and be allowed to hire about four workers each, making approximately 12 new members for the Center. Their research will be funded from the Taylors’ gift, the Danforth Endowment and government grants.
“Many of us in the scientific community who are informed about the importance of this fuel recognize that we’re in this for the long haul,” said Beachy. “Having said that, it’s the excitement of new knowledge that drives most scientists. The incentive out there as an endowment such as this that encourages others to think of ways that their research can add to this challenge of bio-renewable fuels.”