Research aims to substitute petroleum fuels with bio-fuels

The California Energy Commission has awarded $2 million to UC San Diego to accelerate research that will demonstrate the feasibility of using a variety of new kinds of biofuels to supplement or replace petroleum-based transportation fuels in the future.

The state agency selected the university for the award, which will be used to investigate a wide range of plant-based biofuels, because it is one of the nation's leaders in developing technologies to turn algae into biofuels. Last year, a consortium of research institutions headed by UCSD received $9-million from the U.S. Department of Energy and another $3 million from biotechnology and energy companies for algal biofuels research. The university is also a partner in a $4-million grant awarded last year by the California Department of Labor to train workers in the San Diego and Imperial County region for jobs in the emerging biofuels industry.

''These awards validate San Diego as one of the major centers for biofuels research in the country, and the world,'' said Steve Kay, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.

The goal of the California Energy Commission's initiative is to develop a variety of what it calls ''drop-in,'' sustainable fuels and to accelerate the pace of research on these renewable transportation fuels so the state can reach its mandated targets. The state's Alternative Fuels Plan mandates that 9 percent of conventional fuels be replaced by alternative fuels by 2012, 11 percent by 2017 and 26 percent by 2022. The state's Bioenergy Action Plan, meanwhile, stipulates that a minimum of 40 percent of the biofuels used in California be produced within the state by 2020 and that this fraction grow to 75 percent by 2050.

Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at UC San Diego and head of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, a consortium of local research institutions and commercial partners formed two years ago and known as SD-CAB, will head the $2 million, 3-year research effort.

''This initiative will help us reach those mandates,'' said Mayfield, who noted that in addition to algae-based biofuels, the UCSD researchers will also investigate biofuels production in jatropha, a plant that produces biodiesel, and other plants. UCSD is also partnering with UC Davis and other institutions to conduct the research.