Two Minutes with ...

Rob Anex

 

“Let’s make the bioeconomy more sustainable and more productive while making more money for the farmers.”

With today’s prices of crude oil soaring to record heights, Associate Professor of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering Rob Anex is working to create alternative fuels generated from renewable resources. He is also working to highlight the economic and ecological implications of adopting these alternatives.

Fuel transition
Moving away from petroleum based fuels comes with consequences. Anex’s main objective is to determine how a widespread transition to replace petroleum with a biomass-derived feedstock would affect society. Using corn stover as a biomass source, consisting of the leftover stalks, leaves and cobs following harvest, might serve as an initial feedstock in such a transition. However, while converting corn stalks into ethanol may yield a low-cost renewable fuel, that approach will place additional demands on our agricultural system.

Global benefits
The transition to biomass-generated fuels could provide numerous benefits. Biomass products may produce lower greenhouse gas emissions during their manufacturing than petroleum-based products, which could lower their contribution toward the negative effects of global warming. Other expected benefits include improved energy security and rural development opportunities.

Recycling plants
Anex and his colleagues are creating a nutrient recovery and recycling system to recapture plant nutrients that can be returned to the fields. This will ultimately create new product streams and improve the sustainability of biofuel and bioproduct systems.

Diversity at the pump
Diversity is the key to our future in fuel, explains Anex. Fuels will most likely come from numerous sources and will be made through many processes. As fuel consumers, however, we will not see these differences at the pump. What we will see is a reliable supply of our favorite fuel.

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