Oklahoma State University: the school of ethanol made from sweet sorghum. Also, the place where the proprietary microorganisms that Coskata uses in its cellulosic ethanol process came from. OSU certainly is no stranger to biofuels, and a new $1.2m bioenergy laboratory will further research turning plants and other carbon matter into liquid fuel.

According to today's Journal Record, the new laboratory will be the centerpiece in OSU's attempt to secure funding for its interdisciplinary work on biofuels. Ray Huhnke, a biosystems engineer and the coordinator of the various OSU biofuels team members, said the holistic approach will result in "the creation of cost-effective biofuels."

The OSU Biofuels Team has been working together for the past decade. Members come from the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma; and Brigham Young University. OSU also partners with the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, which also includes Oklahoma University and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation of Ardmore.

[Source: Journal Record]

We have run with stories regarding fuel cells which produce electricity using bacteria before, so the technology being shown off by Oregon State University is not particularly new. But, the amount of electricity being generated using such a solution is in fact a big increase. What I find really interesting is the applications that the University researchers can see for their new fuel cell. Did you know that 5 percent of all the electricity consumed in the U.S. was used for the treatment of water and waste water? I didn't. Being that this waste water is an excellent source for bacteria and the "food" for them to feed off, the idea is that the electricity generated could feed back into the plant while the clean water that is produced from the fuel cell could feed back into the fresh water output. Using a method such as this could have a big impact in developing countries, and could even find use in smaller applications like rural and remote homes in the States. Renewable energy using your own waste, how lovely!

[Source: Oregon State University]