A cost effective system for the harvest, storage, and transportation (HST) of biomass is essential to the success of converting from petroleum-based liquid
fuels to bio-based liquid fuels. The value chain for the production of biobased liquid fuels begins with germplasm development and ends with a variety of
processing techniques. There are a variety of companies that focus on germplasm and processing as their business models The middle—the harvest,
storage and transportation of the biomass—however, is lacking an industry sector to drive its development. Iowa State University if forming an industry consortium to address these issues. The research will primarily be conducted at the New Century Farm, a facility being constructed to integrate the production and processing of biomass.

HST Consortium

Iowa State University is bringing together industries across the value chain
to combine resources to perform research in the areas of harvest, storage,
and transportation of biomass.

The starting point of the consortium will be biomass composed of cellulose, hemiceullulose, & lignin derived from ag residues of grain crops, dedicated energy crops, & woody/herbaceous crops. The ending will be feedstocks that are suitable for either thermochemical or biochemical processing. Research will include field trials on harvest, experimental investigations of storage options, and technical and economic analysis of HST issues.

Examples of potential projects include, but are not limited to:

• Producer attitudes and/or perceptions
about harvesting biomass;
• Impact on communities;
• Impact on roads and bridges;
• Innovative storage solutions;
• Preprocessing of biomass

Annual consortium dues will be $100,000 per company, starting in calendar
year 2008. Research priorities will be driven by the member companies, with ISU faculty invited to submit proposals to address these priorities. Consortium members will then select research projects for funding.

If you are interested in joining the HST consortium, please contact Jill Euken, jeukeniastate.edu