Energy initiative delivers on promise to promote collaboration, find solutions
November 27 brought the season’s first single-digit temperatures, but more than 450 people still made their way to the University of Minnesota's Coffman Student Union for E3 2007. Throughout the day-long conference on renewable energy, the economy and the environment, experts traded notes on green plastics, next-generation feed stocks and everything in between. During lunch, friendly debates over algae-to-fuel conversion replaced the usual table talk.
Hosted annually by the University of Minnesota’s Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), the E3 conference is a telling example of how IREE is mobilizing scientists, movers and shakers, and policymakers to build a more sustainable future for Minnesota.
Since 2003, IREE has supported nearly 400 University researchers from seven colleges and four campuses working on more than 130 renewable energy projects. The initiative has also collaborated with external partners, including local heavyweights like Xcel Energy, 3M and the Metropolitan Council.
“Most University researchers are thinking about breakthroughs in science, not in the marketplace,” says Dick Hemmingsen, IREE's director. “Our role is to pull and push those breakthroughs toward application, and partnerships are the way to do it.”
The facts and figures speak for themselves. In the past four years, the University has received 34 disclosures in the renewable energy area, 14 of which resulted from IREE-funded projects. Several of those projects are currently under review for commercial development, including Lanny Schmidt’s hydrogen fuel technologies and Roger Ruan’s method for ammonia production.
Most IREE projects involve faculty from at least two colleges or departments. Although the professors might work in adjacent buildings, it often takes IREE funding to bring them together.
“Through IREE, Paul Lefebvre and I became connected with Michael Flickinger’s group [in the BioTechnology Institute],” says Carolyn Silflow, professor of plant biology. “We began a research collaboration that wouldn’t have started without IREE support.”
Right now, Silflow’s team is using IREE funds to characterize and improve the production of hydrogen through a single-celled green alga known as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. While not a likely source for biofuels, the lessons learned from its genome sequence can be applied to more ideal species.
In the process of connecting colleagues, Silflow says IREE has also motivated the most single-minded of scientists to think outside the lab.
“My research is in basic cell and molecular biology, but I’m interested in contributing my expertise to solve real-world problems. IREE provides a link between basic and applied research, and both are important for long-term solutions to the energy crisis.”
This past year, the state legislature established long-term funding for the initiative. As the state looks to the University to help reach its goal of producing 25 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2025, IREE is prepared to lead the way. —Eve Daniels
