Air pollution and a depleting oil supply are two things we know we contribute to. But what are we doing about it?
Scientists at UW-Madison are currently researching ways to replace coal, oil and natural gas with biofuels, solar energy and wind energy.
Research facilities on campus such as the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative are at the forefront of research in renewable energy.
""At this current rate [of consumption] we'll run out of oil,"" said Troy Runge, director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute. ""We are a long time from that, but at the same time, it will take us a long time to [convert to using] biofuels.""
Biomass like trees, grasses and corn can be converted into energy to fuel cars and generate electricity. This biofuel is just one of the many alternatives to non-renewable energy sources like coal and oil.
According to Runge, however, biofuels will not be widely used in the U.S. so long as there is no market for it.
His lab currently takes cheap biomass and converts it into useful products like levulinic acid and solid fuel, used to create energy in a cleaner way than coal.
""I'm excited that we're actually making [biofuel] where companies can actually commercialize it, because we are utilizing a very cheap feedstock and we're maximizing value in several streams,"" Runge said.
Runge's biological systems engineering lab has been open for just over a year.
""We have some neat discoveries here that are just starting, and working with other researchers,"" Runge said, especially the research he is doing alongside Jim Dumesic, a professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering. Earlier this year, Dumesic's breakthrough discovery was converting cellulose—a biomass—to fuel using catalysis, a type of chemical reaction. Runge's lab is currently working on all processes of converting biomass to fuel in an economical way.
Pamella Wipperfurth, a second year master's student in Biological System Engineering, is doing research in Runge's lab. She is working to optimize the energy potential of biomass, specifically ligdocellulose biomass.
Wipperfurth's goal is to ""pretreat"" biomass in the most energy-efficient way, breaking it down to a product that can be transformed into fuel.
""I'm comparing the heating value of the final solids,"" Wipperfurth said. ""The heating value would tell me how much energy they produce.""
The final solids will produce energy when they are combusted, in the same way coal is burned to create energy.
Tim Donohue, Director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, is also working on creating renewable energy. The GLBRC's mission is to generate liquid transportation fuels from a cleaner source.
""Right now when you go to the gas station, maybe it has 10 percent ethanol in it, and that ethanol comes from corn starch in the United States,"" Donohue said. ""We'd like to be able to infiltrate biofuels into as many engines as we can.""
""Our technology that we're studying at GLBRC is not producing any of the ethanol that goes in your car today. We are generating next generation technology to make liquid transportation fuels from the non-edible part of the plant [called cellulose].""
GLBRC focuses on liquid transportation fuels because they account for approximately one-third of the country's energy use, according to Donohue.
""We're working on helping to diversify a third of the energy grid and at best,"" Donohue said, ""Congress and the country would be ecstatic if we could replace a third of the fossil fuels that goes into automotive, jet, and plane engines with cellulosic fuels by 2030.""
This fall, the university will begin constructing the Wisconsin Energy Institute to bring together researchers from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering to work together on creating technology to produce clean energy. The WBI and the GLBRC will be the two primary occupants of the new building.
""We're creating a whole new field here,"" Donohue said. ""This center is both solving today's problems but also training the leads in the fields for tomorrow.""
According to Runge, however, renewable energy research is not free from criticism. Critics question why companies are not yet using more biofuels after years of research.
""The public is used to things happening at a faster pace,"" Runge said. ""If [integrating biofuels] takes 20 years, and we don't see gas prices going down, and don't see it making a personal impact on people's lives …people just move onto the next thing and say, ‘Well it's not that important.'""
But the conversion will take some time.
By far the biggest criticism has been a question of economic feasibility, Runge said.
""When you make the argument that we need to be using biomass, it makes a lot of sense when you talk about liquid transportation fuels, but it is a harder argument to make about coal because the U.S. has a lot of coal that will last us a long time,"" Runge said.
The Wisconsin Energy Institute will provide both graduate and undergraduate students with opportunities to research renewable energy and advance the replacement of fossil fuels.
But, according to Troy Runge, the institute is not just about research. Education and outreach will be on the first floor of the institute.
""Outreach is as important as the research and it gets lost in the shuffle,"" Runge said. ""We want to bring people in and want people to see that this is the kind of research that is going on. It is supposed to be this portal to the energy research going on in the university.""
The goal with outreach is to remind people that every time someone fires up the car engine, flips on a light switch or turns on the furnace, they use up more resources, both from overseas and the domestic supply.
""Hopefully when students in this research area move out into the business world, they will continue that kind of research and invest in those ideas,"" said UW-Madison Faculty Associate in the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies Richard Shaten said. ""And hopefully people will learn about their own consumption behavior.""
Donohue highlighted the educational aspect of the new center.
""These two institutions have a unique mission of education and training of students,"" Donohue said. ""Embedded in our mission is also providing student training and research opportunities to do that.""
UW-Madison faculty and scientists are not alone in converting Wisconsin to using renewable energy.
The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center has roughly 100 undergraduate students and 75 PhD students researching renewable energy, according to Donohue.
""This is a critical opportunity in an academic institution to expose students to research that will be at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution,"" Donohue said. ""It's an exciting time for a student to be involved in the definition of what could be a totally new transformative renewable energy sector for the country and the world.""
