KU to take biofuels on the road / LJWorld.com

Business

Agriculture secretary optimistic about research efforts

September 19, 2007

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky, left, listens to Susan Williams, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at Kansas University, explain the process of producing biofuels, in a lab at Burt Hall on the KU campus. Polansky visited KU researchers Tuesday.

Three Questions with ... Adrian Polansky, Kansas secretary of agriculture,

Adrian Polansky, Kansas secretary of agriculture, answers Three Questions about biofuels and their economic potential for Kansas during a tour Monday at Burt Hall on the Kansas University campus. Polansky plans to advocate on KU's behalf for the University's efforts to study biofuels and improve their performance. Enlarge video

KU engineers work to reduce America's reliance on oil

Leaders of KU's 'Transportation Research Institute' are aiming to add to the field of research into so-called 'Biofuels.' Enlarge video

Dennis Lane is ready for a road test.

The engineer is preparing to take delivery of a preowned Volkswagen Jetta, then use it to burn biofuel brewed in a lab at Kansas University's Burt Hall.

Lane's testing will be designed to put a real-life spin on real-world questions posed by a growing fleet of alternative fuels - biodiesel, biofuels and other sources of energy that might one day help relieve the country's reliance on petroleum.

Among the queries Lane intends to answer: Just how well do these fuels perform? And how much pollution do they spit out?

"I think we'll have a lot of fun," said Lane, N.T. Veatch Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and associate director for research operations and education at the KU Transportation Research Institute. "And the people on the street may actually benefit a great deal from it."

Lane's plan to buy and fuel a 2000-2003 Volkswagen Jetta diesel - appropriate for such research because its controlling computer can be calibrated to produce accurate research road data - was among several KU initiatives discussed Tuesday with Adrian Polansky, Kansas' secretary of agriculture.

Polansky met with research teams, toured the lab at Burt Hall and had lunch with engineering leaders, all part of his effort to better understand the groundbreaking work that Kansas universities are conducting in the increasingly popular field of biofuels.

It's no small matter, Polansky said, especially for areas of the state where row crops are plentiful and, therefore, prime candidates for attracting development of biofuel plants.

Imagine a farmer being able to sell not only the corn he grows, Polansky said, but also the stalks, leaves and other leftover organic matter for use in a biofuels plant.

"I could see a doubling of revenue per acre of land," Polansky said. "It's exciting. It's a tremendous economic engine for states like Kansas."

KU is working to become a Kansas Bioscience Center of Innovation in the field of biofuels. The Kansas Bioscience Authority is offering grants of up to $200,000 each to teams of scholars, researchers and others dedicated to establish such centers.

Applications are due Oct. 13, and KU wants to be part of an effort that includes Kansas State University and others to help affirm the area's leadership role in the development, improvement and use of biofuels.

Lane knows there's plenty of interest in such issues. Just on KU's campus alone, he said, the university bought buses that no longer pump out exhaust at street level, following up on concerns that "nobody wants to end up in one of those black clouds."

People often assume that the old buses would have been able to run as efficiently, and without much pollution, by burning biofuels instead of petroleum-based diesel, Lane said.

"But in reality, we don't know that yet," Lane said. "It's sort of a foregone conclusion in some peoples' state of mind, but from the engineering and science point of view, we're not there yet.

"I think there's a lot of different types of studies and research that need to be done to say, 'Hey, yeah, this is probably the best way to go' - from efficiency as well as the environmental point of view."

Discussion

LJWorld.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

19 September 2007
at 7:04 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

imastinker (Anonymous) says…

There's lots of research about biofuels out there. There's a lot of people that are doing it, and it works very well. I have been involved with doing a lot of research and prototyping of diesel vehicles that burn waste vegetable oil or biodiesel.

There's a rub though: using homemade biofuels on the road is illegal, since you are not paying road tax on it. For someone who would like to be legal, no guidance is offered by our government on how to pay taxes on homemade fuels. There are lots of forums out there that deal with alternative fuels, and there are stories about this on all of them.

The other issue is that our government does not like diesels. California does not allow the sale of them at all, even though 33% better economy is common with them, and in certian applications, 50% to 100% better is also common. My crew cab dually gets better mileage than my dad's windstar. in 2007, the VW diesels were not allowed to import because they could not conform to the very difficult emissions laws that took place. The equipment to hit these emissions laws were so expensive and unreliable that the market on these vehicles has held demand high for older diesels, such that many are still worth new prices, even though they are well used. It also placed a rush on 2005 and 2006 diesels, and the market is flooded with those years.
19 September 2007
at 9:04 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

“Preowned”?

Why don't they just write “used”?

I detest New Speak!
19 September 2007
at 11:36 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

nobody1793 (Anonymous) says…

Most researchers developing the next generation technologies are fully aware that a certain fraction of crop residues will have to be left on the field, and there are active research projects on that topic going on at K State I believe. The comment about doubling the revenue per acre probably assumes continued yield improvement in drought resistant crops, and the fact that the cellulose and lignin plant fractions can be used to produce value-added products (think high performance polymers and biodegradable packaging) in addition to fuel, which can greatly change the economics. There are certainly a number of challenges to be worked out, but there are some good sustainable technologies on the horizon.
19 September 2007
at 11:51 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

compmd (Anonymous) says…

Amen, imastinker.

I did a lot of research on Mercedes Diesel engines, in particular the 617 series. I successfully used several fuels in my 300SD. I've also researched the feasibility and effectiveness of multifuel Diesel cycle engines for aviation use. I always thought the VW engines were pretty neat, but nothing in my mind beat the giant iron beast of an engine that Mercedes built.

When you're going multifuel, there are several factors that determine whether or not a given fuel will be useful. Consider the compression, what kind of fuel pump and filtering system you have, whether or not the engine is turbocharged or normally aspirated, whether you have a direct injection (the VW engines) or indirect injection (older Mercedes) engine, the robustness of the engine and its durability under higher than normal temperatures and pressures, the list goes on. Professor Lane, if you're reading this, we should chat some time.
19 September 2007
at 12:07 p.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

DBAWalt (Anonymous) says…

imastinker wrote “using homemade biofuels on the road is illegal, since you are not paying road tax on it. ”

Not so.

The first 400 gal per quarter are exempt from federal taxes (if you make your own) if used in a personal (non-commercial) vehicle. After 400 gal, you file form 637 with your tax payment.

400 gal @ 25 mile per gal is 10,000 miles per quarter, or 40,000 miles per year. Reasonable in a commercial vehicle, but the requirement that it be a personal vehicle means you are basicly exempt from federal excise taxes.

As far as state taxes, there is a spot on the sales tax form to indicate 'untaxed fuel used on public roads.' where you tell how much (gal or miles) and calculate the taxes from that. Send them a check. Of course, you have to keep track of how many miles or gal - requires a log book, I think.