Oklahoma Bioenergy Center: R&D across the full value chain

POLY 99

Lance L. Lobban, llobban@ou.edu, School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 100 E. Boyd Street, SEC T-335, Norman, OK 73019
The State of Oklahoma has recently passed legislation creating the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, authorizing $40 million over the next four years, to fund state research and development in bioenergy. The center was conceived by the state Secretary of Energy and a group of researchers from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and the Noble Foundation in order to exploit expertise and ongoing research over the entire value chain of switchgrass and other cellulosics to biofuels. The center's primary research program focuses on opportunities with greatest potential to help develop an in-state biofuels industry in areas such as cellulosic ethanol, pyrolysis of lignocellulosics, and gasification, with a secondary focus on extraction and conversion of vegetable oils and animal fats. This presentation will describe the process of creation of the center and its structure.