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What’s the latest on NREL’s cellulosic ethanol research?

We’ve been very involved in cellulosic ethanol. Last year at this time, I hosted the President and toured him around our bio-refinery. Our refinery is the only pilot scale facility in the country – there’s one in Canada, a smaller one – that has processed cellulosic biomass into ethanol.

The president asked “so, what’s new? What’s exciting?” And I showed him that we and two of our partners, Genencor and Novazymes, had put together some enzymes that lowered the price of cellulosic ethanol by 30 times.

There have been some major breakthroughs in biosciences that have allowed us to start thinking about biofuels differently than we have in the past, and with a much shorter payoff than we originally thought.

[ed.: critics of cellulosic ethanol say the technology is years away from production in volume – see Cleantech.com’s Bush beckons for biofuel.]

What is NREL’s current involvement in biofuel-from-algae research?

For 17 years, we had an aquatic species program. We had to shut it down 10 years ago because of lack of funding and other issues. But it’s in a resurgence mode now.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has come to us because ethanol doesn’t solve their problems. More than three quarters of the fuel used in the defense department is JP-8 [military jet fuel, like the JET-A used by civilian aircraft]. They’re interested in exploring making it from algae.

We’ve been funded by a couple of oil companies, and the DoD and DARPA are interested in funding some things. Look for this research to start up again in this next year.

What NREL research in what sector has got you personally most excited?

The promise of solar is huge.

I started in the 70s on solar. I’m encouraged by how much progress there’s been on the science side of the equation. What we researched in the 80s is now in commercial products today.

It pains me to point out that most of the technology that’s commercially available today was a direct product of the DoE’s program years ago, much of which was run through NREL, yet most of the leading solar companies aren’t U.S. businesses. They’re international businesses that have taken advantage of past U.S. government investment.

[ed.: none of the top 10 solar companies in the world, for instance, are American. Latest data from The American Council on Rewewable Energy show U.S. solar co. SunPower at #12.]

However, the things I see in the labs right now in nano-science, and getting past some of the quantum effects and other limitations in previous semiconductor materials, is exciting. I’m seeing a third generation of technologies that can really begin to capture our most ubiquitous renewable energy source there is – solar.

A lot of eyes are now going to be looking at you. What does it feel like to be a rock star?

This is a tough business! Yes, there’s an opportunity to be in the limelight. That’s rewarding. On the other hand, the challenges make it sobering.

I’m glad the nation is now focused on this. Personally, I feel pressure to be a good credible voice, not signing on to all the hype and not getting too involved in all the politics.

We’re moving quickly now. It hasn’t always been that way.