Fall 2007 -- Vol. 60, No. 4

By Susan Polowczuk, Debbie Dalhouse and Peter Kent

With questions growing about the cost, availability and environmental impact of fossil fuels, Clemson scientists are looking for alternative energy sources in unusual places.

“Because the United States’ energy demand is so huge — 25 percent of energy consumption from 5 percent of the world’s population — no single energy resource is the magic bullet,” says Nick Rigas, Renewable Energy program director for Clemson University Restoration Institute. “What is evident is that our natural, clean energy resources must be part of the nation’s energy picture in the future.”

Corn and soybeans are sources of ethanol, but their use for energy must be balanced with their use for food. If all the existing corn and soybean crops were used for fuel, they would meet only 11 percent of the nation’s automotive fuel needs. Instead, Clemson scientists are searching for clean, renewable and environmentally sustainable fuels from algae, peaches, hydrogen fuel cells and wind.

Scientists estimate that microalgae could produce 100 times more fuel than soybean oil, but it’s difficult to harvest. That’s where biosystems engineer David Brune, food scientist Feng Chen and chemist Lance Beecher step in. Their trials have shown that brine shrimp, which feed on microalgae, can produce as much as 500 gallons of biodiesel per acre per year with no environmental waste discharge. Brine shrimp are popularly known as the “sea-monkey” sold in comic books. In early tests, the team has demonstrated that they can extract about 70 percent of the fats and oils from the shrimp for use as biodiesel.

Discarded peaches are being converted to fuel by a bacterium called Thermotoga neapolitana. The S.C. Peach Council is funding research by biosystems engineer Caye Drapcho and graduate assistant Abhiney Jain. They are seeking to harness the microbe’s ability to convert sugar from the peaches into gas that contains nearly 30 percent hydrogen. This research has the potential to produce valuable fuel from discarded fruit, benefiting growers, the environment and consumers. (Transcript of movie available from Clemson World.)

The state’s greatest indigenous energy resource is cellulosic biomass — woody plant material such as crop and timber residues — that can be converted into ethanol. Clemson’s Restoration Institute is leading a research collaborative with Savannah River National Laboratory, S.C. State University, SC Bio and Queensland University of Technology in Australia to develop a cost-competitive process to convert cellulosic biomass into biofuels.

In one of the early studies, about 20 acres of switchgrass have been planted at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center near Florence. Agronomist Jim Frederick, environmental engineer Shelley Miller and entomologist Francis Reay-Jones are working on this phase of the project. The next step is to seek funding to build a pilot processing plant at the Restoration Institute.

The U.S. Hydrogen Fuel Initiative seeks to make hydrogen fuel-cell-powered cars and refueling stations available, practical and affordable to all Americans by 2020. To date, four grants have been awarded to Clemson scientists for hydrogen fuel-cell research.

A $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was recently awarded to Clemson chemical and biomolecular engineer James Goodwin, in collaboration with Clemson chemist Steve Creager and scientists at the Savannah River National Laboratory. Their research seeks to understand the effects that impurities in hydrogen and oxygen streams have on the performance of fuel cells. These cells produce electricity when hydrogen and oxygen are combined to produce water. They can be used to power vehicles with up to three times the efficiency of traditional internal combustion engines, but they are not yet commercially viable.

Chemists Steve Creager, Dennis Smith and Darryl DesMarteau were awarded two grants from DOE, totaling $2.5 million. This funding is to develop a fuel-cell membrane to extend the life of fuel cells for cars and to convert hydrogen into electricity.

In a separate project, chemical engineer Mark Thies is studying how to use extreme temperatures to split water and form hydrogen and oxygen, leading the U.S. team that is seeking a safe design to handle the chemical reaction.

The winds off South Carolina’s coast are another source of clean, renewable energy. Generating electricity with advanced wind turbine technology is the fastest growing renewable energy technology in the world, with an annual growth rate as high as 30 percent. Wind research at Clemson is led by Nick Rigas in the Restoration Institute, in collaboration with Coastal Carolina University and the Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston. The work is funded by Santee Cooper, Savannah River National Laboratory and the S.C. Research Authority.

The first wind monitoring station was installed in June on Waties Island in Horry County, and the second went up in July at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston. The monitoring towers are equipped with wind gauges, a barometer, temperature gauge and solar sensor. Data will be collected for one year to assess the potential for large-scale power generated from coastal winds, with plans to install a commercial scale wind turbine in North Charleston to support future energy research.

So the answer for renewable energy may be blowing in the wind, growing in the field or swimming in comic books — all potentially viable options for energy needs in South Carolina and beyond.