A new state grant could help MSU plant the seeds for more renewable energy in Michigan.
The university recently received the $476,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, or DELEG.
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the money will be used for an initiative to demonstrate the possibilities of growing bioenergy crops on nontraditional lands, said Dennis Pennington, a bioenergy educator with MSU Extension offices who is working on the project.
Such lands include vacant urban land, airport property and highway right-of-ways, which are the median and off of the shoulder.
“When we talk about growing crops, we typically think about farmers’ fields,” Pennington said. “We want to look at some land that is not already in production and evaluate, is there potential?”
DELEG decided to help fund the project in part to meet alternative energy mandates, DELEG agri-energy specialist Terri Novak said.
By 2022, the U.S. needs to produce 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel, of which 21 billion gallons must be from cellulosic seed stocks, she said.
Additionally, Michigan placed its own goal to produce 10 percent of its electricity supply from renewable sources by 2015, she said.
“This demonstration will help determine whether Michigan can be a player in contributing to meeting those goals,” Novak said.
The crops grown will be able to generate fuels such as ethanol or biodiesel, or be burned to produce alternative sources of electricity.
The two primary categories of crops are cellulosic, which are used for ethanol or electricity, and oil seed crops, which are used for biodiesel or jet fuel, Pennington said.
MSU also will partner with Detroit Metro Airport and potentially Muskegon County Airport. The airports are interested in planting crops to produce renewable jet fuel, Pennington said.
If this demonstration is successful, the project’s coordinators said they plan to apply for further funding to plant bioenergy crops across the state.
In addition to producing jobs for the ailing economy, the alternative energy will help the state go green, said Extension educator Charles Gould, who is working with Pennington on the initiative.
“We want to move away from fossil fuels and into more sustainable systems of producing our own energy,” Gould said. “And we think this could be an economic engine for the state as well.
From growing the crop to producing whatever energy there is at the other end, there’s got to be people doing work.”
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