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Energy research showing economic potential |
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Saturday, 06 September 2008 |
By KELLY DANIELS
Starkville Daily News
Alternative energy proponents are refining a new face for economic development in Mississippi.
Thanks to research conducted by Dr. William Batchelor and Dr. Glenn Steele, co-directors of the Sustainable Energy Research Center for Mississippi State University, the southeastern United States could be marked as a center for renewable energy production.
This possibility could mean industry, business and money for Mississippi, they said.
It could also mean that dependence on big petroleum companies may not be a factor in years to come.
Established in January of 2006, SERC has made several breakthroughs in converting organic material to oil.
Batchelor presented some of these breakthroughs during Friday’s Power Breakfast hosted by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.
“The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is very interested in cleaner production and reducing solid waste,” said Batchelor, who is also the professor and head of the Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering.
“MSU has patented technology to convert sewage waste into oil.”
Meeting a demand
Renewable energy research has gained much attention from the media, politicians and the consumer who is concerned about gas prices.
Due to global demand from Asia, gas prices continue to rise.
Industries and manufacturers have moved to China and India, where labor is cheap.
Because of this transfer of wealth from the U.S. to cheaper wealth in foreign lands, these countries have been demanding a higher standard of living.
“The first thing they do is move from a rice based diet to a beef and poultry based diet,” said Batchelor. “Then they all want to buy cars.”
While the world population is at 6.6 billion with China and India taking up 2.4 billion, the U.S uses 25 percent of the world’s demand for oil.
The U.S. also consumes 140 billion gallons of oil per hear.
In 2010 the world will be expending its maximum amount of oil.
The supply will go down, raising the cost of oil per barrel.
For these reasons, the federal government has supported the effort to decrease dependence on foreign oil, despite partisan decision concerning global warning.
Providing solutions
One of the virtually waste free innovations that could be an immediate opportunity for Mississippi is Biocrude.
“We’re one of the few people of the world working on this product,” said Batchelor.
Biocrude, a microbic product, is created with low value waste, such as sewage water, crops scraps and tree scraps.
The result is an oil that produces a very low amount of greenhouse gas emissions, Batchelor said.
Microbic oil can serve as a direct replacement for crude oil and eliminate much of the solid waste that goes into a land fill.
Bio oil can be created by heating biomass under oxygen limited conditions.
This oil can be refined in petroleum refineries.
With its vast timber and woody biomass, Mississippi could serve as one of first mass producers of this type of renewable energy.
For more information about research on bio-derived fuel visit http://www.msstate.serc.edu.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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