Bioeconomy benefits and MSU strengths
Through the bioeconomy, Michigan State University can point the way to a more thoughtful relationship with the land and the environment, and improve the state's economy in the process. The university's leadership in advancing Michigan's bioeconomy will pay dividends for years to come.
Michigan can and should be a leader in reducing dependence on oil and in protecting the environment. But the state needs to go beyond alternative fuel. A diversified bioeconomy strategy with MSU as a knowledge hub for research and development will help the state develop the ability to produce value-added biochemicals, bioprocesses and biomaterials beyond fuel.
With substantial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, MSU commissioned two reports that are providing guidance for investment and policy decisions for optimal development of Michigan's bioeconomy. A white paper written by leading Michigan State faculty members is supplementing these reports. Using these as guides, the MSU Office of Biobased Technologies is forging a strategic plan for providing leadership in developing Michigan's bioeconomy.
The bioeconomy offers many benefits for Michigan, including:
- Revitalizing rural communities. New crops and trees will be grown and harvested to produce biomass that can be preprocessed locally to reduce the volume of material for shipping.
- Creating 21st-century logistics and processing industries based on integrated biorefineries. Integrated biorefineries will collect preprocessed plant material and convert it into biofuels, platform chemicals and other high value biomaterials.
- Revitalizing the state's manufacturing sectors -- particularly automotive, fuels, fine chemicals and furniture companies. These companies will then be able to respond aggressively to customer demand for more renewable-based products. Revitalizing these industries will lead to community and economic development in urban areas of the state.
- Creating a cutting-edge culture of knowledge to generate the research, development, technology transfer and services needed for a nimble and fast growing bioeconomy.
The Innovation Cascade
To realize the full potential of the bioeconomy, Michigan must advance knowledge and answer key questions in four interrelated areas:
- Plant material production. Which crops are best for Michigan? How can Michigan crops be improved so they're better raw materials for bioproducts?
- Raw plant material processing. How can processing costs be reduced and the efficiency of converting plant materials into fuels and other desired products be increased?
- Systems integration and sustainability. How can all the components needed for Michigan's bioeconomy be synchronized and optimized? How can this new economic system be sustainable at all levels over the long term?
- Entrepreneurship, business development and support services. What are the best scale and the best structure for the Michigan bioeconomy? What are the best business models? What are the most effective policies to make it all happen here?
These four areas of innovation are critical to the success of the Michigan bioeconomy.
The Michigan State University Office of Biobased Technologies: Uniquely Able to Lead the Bioeconomy
Michigan State University scientists started working on bioeconomy research long before the bioeconomy concept was formulated. Forty faculty members (including nine distinguished professors) are conducting research in the four areas of innovation mentioned above. MSU has dedicated internal funds to bioeconomy research as an incentive to increase this number.
MSU has strengths that uniquely enable it to lead bioeconomy research for Michigan:
- Internationally renowned plant scientists who understand how plants produce biomass at the most fundamental metabolic levels and who have expertise in using molecular and genetic tools to improve these processes.
- A comprehensive knowledge base in all facets of agricultural science. Researchers and educators are tightly linked to the state's agricultural, natural resources and forestry industries and are skilled in applying scientific advances to the real world.
- International expertise in biological and chemical processing of plant material -- expertise that already has produced more than 20 discoveries that have been licensed and transferred to the private sector.
- The world's foremost group of experts in complex supply chain management, which will be critical to move from raw plant materials to finished bioproducts.
Michigan State University has the fundamental infrastructure necessary to establish the foundation for bioeconomy development in Michigan. This includes laboratories and core facilities for instrumentation, computation and modeling; field research facilities across the state; funding for creative new research projects; and pilot and scale-up facilities for unique commercialization expertise through MBI International, a firm with proven success in bringing biotechnology ideas to the market.
MSU also has strongly developed links with other research universities and private sector partners, including established relationships with all major agricultural input providers, select biotechnology firms and key manufacturing industries.
