Professor Arthur
Ragauskas
From the Special Topic of
Biofuels
According to our Special Topics analysis on Biofuels,
one of the most-cited papers in the Research Front Map on
Ethanol
Biofuels is "The path forward for biofuels and
biomaterials" (Ragauskas AJ, et al., Science
311[5760]: 484-9, 27 January 2006). InEssential
Science IndicatorsSM from
Thomson
Reuters, this paper has 174 cites.
Lead author Professor Arthur Ragauskas is a Professor at
the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in the School
of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of
Technology in Atlanta.
Professor Ragauskas is also the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in
Alternative Energy at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg,
Sweden, as well as a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science
and the Technical Associations of the Pulp and Paper Industry. In addition,
he is the Associate Editor of several journals, including Biofuels,
Bioproducts and Biorefining and the Journal of Wood Chemistry and
Technology.
In the interview below,
ScienceWatch.com talks with Prof. Ragauskas about this
paper and recent advances in the biofuels industry.
Would you please describe the major points
of your paper and why it is garnering citation attention?
Our paper recognized that the development of sustainable, secure, and
environmentally compatible energy generation would become the research
challenge for our generation. Furthermore, the scope and breadth of this
global challenge required a multidisciplinary approach focused on creating
a sustainable world in which energy, materials, and products are derived
from renewable resources in order to initially supplement and eventually
replace our dwindling supply of non-renewable resources and to meet
projected shortfalls.
In our paper we indicated that non-food plant biomass would be the primary
resource of the future, hence the need to develop agro-energy crops that
would facilitate low-recalcitrance plants that would provide bountiful
low-cost access to cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. These bioresources
would then be processed in an integrated biorefinery, which would optimize
biomass-conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and
chemicals from biomass. In essence, it is analogous to today's petroleum
refineries, which produce multiple fuels and products from petroleum.
Industrial biorefineries have been identified as the most promising route
to the creation of a new domestic biobased industry, and our paper
highlights the research challenges that need to be addressed for the
efficient conversion to biomaterials, biochemicals, biofuels, and biopower.
How did you become involved in this research, and
were there any particular successes or obstacles that stand
out?
This publication involved the collective efforts of key researchers at the
Georgia Institute of Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and
Imperial College London (ICL). Although many of us, including myself, have
spent a career studying different aspect of biomass production and
conversion it was the energy crisis that brought to the forefront the
magnitude of the challenge involved in developing sustainable
biofuels/biomaterials technologies that would initially supplement and then
eventually replace depleted petroleum resources.
Given this challenge, one of the greatest obstacles we faced was forming a
team that had the same vision and complementary skill sets. A second
challenge and success was taking the time to develop a consensus for this
challenge.
Where do you see your research and the broader
field leading in the future?
As discussed in our Science paper, we are very active in
developing the next set of innovative biomass-conversion technologies that
will provide a low-cost direct set of technologies for converting non-food
biomass resources to biofuels, biopower, biomaterials, and biochemicals. To
mention just a few examples, B. Davison, J.R. Mielenz, and T. Tschaplinski
from ORNL and myself are all involved in one of the three U.S. Department
of Energy-funded bioenergy centers. One center, BioEnergy Science Center
(BESC) is leading the way to low-recalcitrance plant resources and improved
conversion, which will provide the technology platform for widespread,
low-cost cellulosic ethanol. Complementary studies involving researchers at
ICL and GA Tech have identified promising pathways for the conversion of
lignin into green diesel and innovative biomaterials.
Finally, I am the recipient of a Fulbright Chair in Alternative Energy at
Chalmers University of Technology, which is focused on developing novel
thermal and biological technologies for second- and third-generation
biofuels. The broader field will continue in this "systems" approach, where
individual improvements must fit into a larger renewable cycle.
What are the implications of your work for this
field?
Our ongoing studies, in partnership with other colleagues, will lead to a
new set of designer engineered energy crops for specific regional and
global agroecosystems, along with enhanced saccharification systems and
robust fermentation processes incorporated as multiple processes in plants
or microbes to accelerate and simplify the end-to-end production of
biofuels, biomaterials, and biochemicals. Its impact will be as profound as
the discovery and utilization of petroleum for today's
society.
Professor Art J. Ragauskas
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Institute of Paper Science and Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA, USA
and
Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy
Forest Products and Chemical Engineering Dept Chemical and Biological
Engineering
Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg, Sweden
Ragauskas AJ, et al., "The path forward for biofuels
and biomaterials," Science 311(5760): 484-9, 27
January 2006. Source:
Essential
Science Indicators from
Thomson
Reuters.