报告题目：Interactions between Biomass Feedstock Characteristics and Bioenergy Production: From the Landscape to the Molecular Scale

报告人：Rebecca J. Garlock – Michigan State University and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center （密歇根州立大学，美国能源部GLBRC生物能源研究中心）

报告时间：2011年2月23日（周三）下午3:30-4:30

报告地点：学九306会议室

主持人：邵千钧教授

Abstract: To improve energy security and reduce the negative health and environmental impacts associated with obtaining and using fossil fuels, it is critical for countries to develop renewable sources of energy. Lignocellulosic (non-food based) plant materials can be used to generate bioenergy, either in the form of electricity and heat or liquid fuels. The choices which are made with respect to the efficient development and operation of any bioenergy conversion process are inherently linked to the physical and chemical properties of the feedstock. These interactions can be examined at a variety of scales ranging from the landscape scale where the availability of feedstock can affect the appropriate energy generation method for a given region, to the molecular scale where small variations in cell wall components can have a large impact on process yields. Because biomass is an inherently heterogeneous material, it is necessary to develop a broad understanding of how different characteristics impact the conversion process: how differences in biomass classification can help us make generalizations about new feedstocks, whether different varieties of the same species have inherent differences which alter their relative efficiencies of conversion, and what variations are possible depending on which portion of the plant is used for a feedstock.

Biography: Rebecca J. Garlock is a PhD candidate at Michigan State University and is involved as a researcher in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. She has been awarded the 2^nd annual Dow Hong Kong – Michigan Scholarship and is currently conducting research at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (香港科技大学) until May, when she will return to the U.S. and complete her degree. Her research focuses on the interactions between feedstock and processing characteristics during the biological conversion of herbaceous and woody biomass to soluble sugars and ultimately, liquid fuels and chemicals.