Cornell fuels projects

Cornell University is awarding a total $1.4m to 12 new university projects. The money is invested via the David R. Atkinson Centre for a Sustainable Future’s Academic Venture Fund.

The projects will focus on various aspects of biomass, bioenergy production and agriculture. One of the projects will aim to produce bioenergy from manure. Scientists are hoping to develop a treatment process to extract the maximum amount of energy, including biogas, liquid biofuels, electricity and thermal energy, from manure as well as other food production wastes.

Another project will focus on pyrolysis. Pyolosis is the irreversible, thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. Researchers will work with an aquaponic –  a portmanteau of aquaculture and hydroponics – greenhouse that integrates fish and vegetable farming to test a commercial-scale pyrolysis energy system powered by yard waste. The system will provide heat without the need for fossil fuels. Biochar co-product will be used as a soil amendment and may have applications in filtering fishpond water.

A third project will address beetle outbreaks, which can kill up to 90% of larger trees. The project will study the long-term impact on the ecosystem of such outbreaks. A fourth project meanwhile will focus on biofuel surrogates for transportation fuels. The researchers hope to develop surrogates that would match the engine efficiency and value of two high-value fossil fuels.

Frank DiSalvo, director of the Atkinson Centre and professor of physical science, said: “The Academic Venture Fund is a seed fund, the academic-equivalent of angel investing, providing that first, much-needed boost of support to see if a good idea has legs. One measure of impact is how many of those seeds grow, and in this we have been unusually successful with $8 in follow-on funding for every $1 we have spent. As our early seeds mature, we are seeing on-the-ground impact in Africa, Indonesia, Latin America and here at home.”