SBIR-STTR Award

Pennycress is a non-food member of the mustard family that is grown as a winter annual producing seeds containing 36% oil or twice that of soybeans. This oil can be extracted and converted to high quality biodiesel fuel while the remaining de-oiled presscake biomass can be converted to other energy products. Planted in the fall after corn harvest, Pennycress is then harvested in the spring before planting soybeans. Farmers growing this crop can earn extra income on land that would otherwise be left bare during the winter while still growing corn and soybeans in a tradition rotation. One ton of seeds grown on one acre can produce 190 gallons of liquid fuel. To establish Pennycress as a viable energy crop, practical knowledge and optimized farming practices must be established through well-designed experiments that validate the findings. This project will establish the best farming practices to allow growers to maximize yields thus enhancing economic returns in the production of a dedicated energy crop. Field experiments will be conducted to establish optimized planting, harvesting and storage practices. This information will then be provided to regional farmers seeking to grow Pennycress benefiting the environment, rural economy and consumers. OBJECTIVES: The goals of this project include developing standard commercial practices for the planting, harvest and storage of Pennycress seed. Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is a non-food member of the mustard family that is grown as a winter annual producing seeds containing 36% oil. This oil can be extracted and converted to high quality biodiesel while the remaining de-oiled presscake biomass can be converted to other energy products. Significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and net energy gains can be realized through use of this new energy crop. One ton of seeds grown on one acre can produce 190 gallons of liquid fuel. Planted in the fall, Pennycress is then harvested in the spring allowing double cropping with soybeans. Farmers growing this crop can earn extra income on land that would otherwise be left bare during the winter and still grow corn and soybeans in a tradition rotation. The best farming practices developed by this project will be used by growers to maximize yields thus enhancing economic returns in the production of a dedicated energy crop benefiting the environment, rural economy and consumer

The national demand for energy and need for economic development has been driving efforts to create a domestic biofuels industry. Significant investment by both the public and private sectors have resulted in progress but recent government rule making has set ambitious requirements for renewable fuel supplies that can not be met with existing technologies or feedstocks. This significant unmet market for biofuels created by Federal regulation is the business opportunity identified by ATI to be met by producing Field Pennycress as a non-food energy crop. Pennycress has seeds with 36% oil and is grown as a winter annual on unused land following the corn harvest and prior to the spring planting of soybeans. This means that farmers can continue to grow corn and soybeans in the traditional way but add our new crop in the winter allowing them to earn additional income. Approximately 40 million acres of land are available each year for Pennycress under this strategy with no impact to the food supply or critical wildlife habitats. When fully deployed, Pennycress could supply eight billion gallons of biofuels and generate $4 billion in new farm income. In addition, approximately 23,000 new non-farm jobs could be created in rural communities enhancing local economic development. Our Phase I research has confirmed that Pennycress can be grown commercially as an energy crop and the logistics of harvest, transportation and storage were proven. Our SBIR Phase II project is designed to enhance Pennycress profitability through higher yields, gain acceptance from the farmers while reducing risk and uncertainty so that the crop is adopted and production acres can grow. In addition, a complete Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for Pennycress biofuel production will be undertaken. ATI and its research partners will conduct agronomic research to address planting strategies, fertilizer regimes to enhance yields and evaluate new genetic lines of Pennycress. We will assess the impact of growing Pennycress on soil nutrition as well as its impact on the following soybean crop. ATI will gather data necessary to support the LCA of Pennycress required for EPA and USDA rule making on advanced biofuels and conclusion of this project will allow ATI to deploy a Pennycress supply chain from the farm to the pump as an innovative bioenergy business. The ATI commercialization plan is to contract with farmers to produce Pennycress from seed provided by us, take delivery of the crop and then process the seed by crushing and sell the resulting oil and remaining high-energy presscake. Our five-year goal is to have 100,000 acres under cultivation. ATI expects to grow geographically to more than one million acres as the crop proves itself to farmers. With substantial revenues from our production business, we will ultimately build our own biofuel manufacturing facilities and function as an integrated bioenergy company. OBJECTIVES: Our project will help us overcome three remaining challenges when introducing a new energy crop to farmers and allow us to deploy a Field Pennycress supply chain from the farm to the pump. We will conduct research in three different areas. These are: 1) enhanced Pennycress profitable through higher yields, 2) determine the impact of Pennycress production on soil nutrition and the following soybean crop and 3) complete the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for Pennycress farming and biofuel production. Yields of approximately 2000 pounds per acre will ensure that both the producer and processor can earn handsome returns. Our project will establish "best practices" by conducting and integrating research from government, university and farmer partners for growing Pennycress with profitable yields. Key areas of focus are planting techniques and strategies, fertilizer regimes that enhance yields and an evaluation of our new genetic lines of Pennycress. Before farmers will commit to growing the crop they must have reliable data on the impact of growing Pennycress on soil nutrition as well as its impact on the following soybean crop. Our project will collect these data so that potential farmers can have the information necessary to make the decision to become Pennycress growers and expand the production acreage. Federal bio-energy programs have carbon footprint and greenhouse gas requirements that can impact the acceptance of a biofuel feedstock. In addition, the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) requires significant data on a new crop and its production methods before it will offer crop insurance to farmers. We will gather data on plant biology, farming activities and processing operations to support the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of Pennycress biofuels necessary for EPA and USDA rule making on advanced biofuels and RMA insurance. The ATI commercialization plan is to contract with farmers to produce Pennycress from seed provided by us, take delivery of the crop and then process the seed by crushing and sell the resulting oil and remaining high-energy presscake. Our five-year goal is to have 100,000 acres under cultivation. ATI expects to grow geographically to more than one million acres as the crop proves itself to farmers. With substantial revenues from our production business, we will ultimately build our own biofuel manufacturing facilities and function as an integrated bioenergy company. APPROACH: In addition to collecting biological data, we will be calculating the economic costs in time and money of the different agronomic practices to devise cost/benefit evaluations to enable ATI to recommend "best practices" for growing Field Pennycress. This research program will cover two crop years (2011-2013) and be performed at the Western Illinois University research farm, the USDA NCAUR facility and on private farms of our research partners. Basic agronomic research experiments will rely on randomized, split plot designs replicated by location and repeated over years. A Hege 1200 drill/planter will be used to seed the plots to ensure accurate seeding rates and spatial distribution. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical evaluations at the P< 0.01 level will compare treatments for significant differences. Total seed harvest and oil content as per cent of total weight will be measured. Total oil content will be determined by nondestructive pulsed NMR (Bruker Minispec PC 120, 180-mm absolute probe head) on whole pennycress seed. To develop improved genetic varieties based on classic breeding protocols the project will focus research plot work to evaluate our Strain 2 as the new commercial strain and compare it with our standard research Strain 1 and several other experimental strains currently under development. To determine the optimum date for aerial seeding allowing the maximum number of seeds to pass through the canopy and make good soil contact, we will conduct experiments with weekly flights in September and count the number of seeds reaching the ground and subsequent germination dates/rates. To determine the optimum plant stand density for total seed and oil yields, experimental plots will measure yields, branching, date of maturity, harvest date and competition from spring weeds. To assess the impact and economics of different fertilizer regimes on enhancing Pennycress seed and oil yields three forms of fertilizer with three different rates will be evaluated against a non-treated control. In addition, the benefits of fall or spring applications will be examined. ANOVA statistical analyses will be conducted and integrated with cost/benefit comparisons of the different fertilizer types and resulting yields. Compositional analysis of harvested seeds, soil testing and growth responses will be used to assess the impact of growing Pennycress on soil nutrition. To assess the impact of Pennycress production on the following soybean crop, controlled field plot experiments will measure yields and seed composition. Total farm income will be analyzed for the double cropping of Pennycress and soybeans grown in the same crop year. ATI collaborates with Dr. David Shonnard of Michigan Technological University on the LCA work for Pennycress. ATI will be collecting and validating data required to populate the model and run various scenario analyses to test model assumptions and data uncertainty. Data will come from research plots and farm field studies. Many of the same data sets on production practices, inputs, growth and harvest yields are required by the USDA Risk Management Agency to develop a crop insurance program for Pennycress.