Florida Energy Systems Consortium (FESC)

Overview

www.floridaenergy.ufl.edu

Florida Energy Systems Consortium (FESC)

Created by Florida Statute in 2008

Purpose…Unite Florida energy experts - including Florida’s 12

Universities - so that the State leads in energy research and

develops innovative energy systems giving rise to…

Improved energy efficiency and

Expanded economic development

Strategic Activities

• Research

• Technology Commercialization

• Outreach

• Education

FESC involves more than

• 400 Faculty

• 100 Centers and Institutes

• 200 Companies within Florida

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FESC Leadership Structure

Director

Jennifer Curtis

Associate Director

Canan Balaban

Principal Investigators

Industrial Board

Oversight BoardUniversity Research VP’s

Steering Committee

Education & Outreach Technology Commercialization

Research

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Strategic Thrusts

1. Developing Florida’s Biomass Advantage for Renewable Fuels

2. Harnessing Florida’s Solar Resources

3. Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Conservation

4. Securing Energy Delivery Infrastructure and Energy Storage

5. Capturing Florida’s Marine Energy Resources for Power Generation

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Developing Florida Biomass Resources

Florida has ~10% of US

biomass resources

51% statewide tree coverage

80% of it is commercial

15 million acres of forest land

10 million acres of farm land

• #1 in sugarcane and citrus

• #1 in forest residues

• #1 in urban wood waste

• #2 in vegetable (waste)

100MW Biomass Power Plant - Gainesville

Renewable Energy Center

1 Full scale Biomass to ethanol plant – INEOS

Algae to ethanol - Algenol

University of Florida cellulosic ethanol biorefinery

Climate allows year around

energy crop growth, high

crop yield and conversion

efficiency

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FESC Bio Energy Research Areas

• Energy Crops

• Algal Research

• Biomass Conversion Technologies

– Biochemical

– Thermochemical

• Catalyst Development

• Computational Studies

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Water-Use Efficiency and Feedstock Composition of

Candidate Bioenergy Grasses in Florida Environments

PIs: L. Sollenberger, J. Erickson, J. Vendramini, and R. Gilbert

Energycane Sweet sorghum Elephantgrass

Superior grass species and management practices for various Florida environments

Comparisons of water-use efficiency and feedstock composition of candidate grass species

Carinata field trials by Dr. David Wright

Graduate students trained in the ecology, physiology, and chemical composition of bioenergy grasses

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Energy Intensive Crop Development

PI’s: Gary Peter, Matias Kirst, Don Rockwood, UF

• Fundamental research aimed at identifying genes

that control growth and biomass chemical

composition

• Applied research aimed at providing important

yield and chemical composition (relates to amount

of biofuel) information for a variety Eucalyptus and

pine which can be grown in Florida.

ARPA-E Grant: Develop Loblolly pine

to increase turpentine production

from 3 % to 20%. The goal is to

produce 100M gal/y fuel from 25K

acres forestland.

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Algae Research at USF Dr. George Philippidis

Algae photobioreactors

and indoor pilot facility

Outdoor algae pilot facility

with monitoring and control systems

A plastic platform with proprietary integrated

aeration system – floating system with

enhanced mass transfer, Patent Application

Filed (USF & Culture Fuels Inc.)

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UF Biofuel Research and Facilities

UF Stan Mayfield Biorefinery

UF Bio Fuel Pilot Plant

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Post-Processing of Cellulosic-Ethanol Stillage for Fuel Production and Recovery of Plant Nutrients

Design and operation of process for biogasification of

cellulosic ethanol stillage.

– Biogas used as fuel in the ethanol facility

• Finding: 25 – 30% of fossil fuel usage can be displaced by

biogas

– Residual lignin in stillage purified in this process.

Design and operation of a process for recovering plant

nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus) in the stillage

– Ammonia and phosphate in stillage precipitated as struvite and

recovered

• Struvite is a slow release fertilizer

Treatment of stillage for water reuse or land application

PI: Dr. Pratap Pullammanappallil, UF

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PI: Pratap Pullammanappallil, UF

Partners: University of Missouri, Virginia Tech, Montclair State University,

Texas A&M University, Show Me Energy and Green Technologies; The

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology-Hyderabad leads the Indian team.

Research Focus:

Improve biomass conversion technologies

Develop and optimize feedstocks: work with high-yield

biomass sorghum, sweet sorghum, pearl millet, bamboo

and switchgrass.

Utilize waste streams in the cellulosic ethanol conversion

process -investigate ways of using spent feedstocks,

wastewater and other materials to produce additional

bioenergy and products such as fertilizers and bioplastics.

U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy Research and

Development Center - Biomass

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High-Temperature Steam Gasification Biomass

to Energy System By Dr. Jacob Chung, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomass

& Solid Waste Energy Conversion Lab, University of Florida

Objectives:

Convert agricultural biomass and municipal solid waste (MSW) to

syngas by high-temperature steam with least negative impact on the

environment

Developing best methods for converting syngas to electricity,

mechanical power and liquid fuels

High

Temperature

Steam

Gasification

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Demonstration/Test Unit, Dr. Jacob Chung

Biomass to Electricity Demo Units

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Summary of Activities/Accomplishments

FESC leveraged the initial $38M state funding to obtain additional $425M in

energy research funding from third parties

Links Florida universities with Florida energy industry

Gives Florida a competitive advantage

Increased awareness nationally/internationally of FESC and its leadership role

• MOU with BioFuelNet (BFN) Canada

• BFN links Canadian universities with

industry to collaborate in biomass

research and development

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Technology Commercialization

FESC Technology Commercialization Program• Funding early stage market research/business plans – Phase I

• Matching funds for companies to leverage their R&D budgets – Phase II

Startup Companies – 30 companies formed based on university

developed technologies

Technology Licensed – 101 licenses

Invention Disclosures – 459 submitted

Job Growth• Across all diverse aspects of emerging energy technologies

• Over 100 new jobs

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Outreach

Focus on Energy Efficiency

• Targeting the general public & built environment

• Collaborating with the home builders and

construction industry

• Partnering with utilities to implement

performance-based demand-side management

Demand Management Much More Cost Effective

Than Expanding Supply

Outreach to the Public

UF Program for Resource Efficient Communities

• Over 50 Fact Sheets prepared to help Florida citizens

better conserve and increase energy efficiency

• Sustainable Floridians program (8 week training program

preparing Florida citizens to be ambassadors for

sustainability)

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Content-Rich Web Site: www.floridaenergy.ufl.edu

Communication with FESC network through bi-monthly newsletter,

in addition to biannual reports, e-mails, telecons and other meetings

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FESC Workshops/Summits

• May 20-21, 2015 Energy Workshop in Orlando

• Feb 2-3, 2015 Workshop in Orlando: Instructional

Workshop on “Integration of Renewable Energy to the

Grid”

• May 12-13, 2014 Energy Conference in

Gainesville

– Research-oriented and broad based in topics –

covering all strategic focus areas

• FESC Annual Workshops were combined with

the Florida Energy Summit in 2012 and 2013

• FESC Summits in 2009, 2010, and 2011

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Contact Information

Jennifer Sinclair Curtis, Director

(352) 392-0946

jcurtis@eng.ufl.edu

Janan C. Balaban, Associate Director

(352) 392-0899

cbalaban@ufl.edu