The Strategic Approaches to the Generation of Electricity, a SmartState Center developed by the College of Engineering and Computing is appealing to the public by utilizing crowd funding. The University of South Carolina research team that oversees SAGE is at the forefront of biofuel production research under the leadership of Cun Wen.
SAGE believes that crowd funding is the answer to two of their basic needs, promotion and capital. SAGE hopes that the public will take advantage of the opportunity to invest in its research.
“Crowd funding is important because, not only does it bring us some funds, it’s an opportunity for the community to learn about what we’re doing,” Elizabeth Barrow, research assistant at SAGE, said. “As we are advertising the crowd funding they’re having the ability to take part in our research and become part of the solution.”
Previously the research being conducted by Wen and SAGE was funded by government research grants. However now that the biofuel technology is past the original development stage and can be applied on a larger scale it no longer qualifies for federal grants.
“They’re wanting to support us up to the point where we can write a paper. We’ve already done that,” Barrow said. “Our project is in-between when government funds it and where industry takes over.”
SAGE believes its new technology, if implemented on a large scale, could benefit local businesses, and bring jobs to the community, as well as drive fuel prices lower and stimulate the local economy.
The vice president of USC’s Office of Research has agreed to match SAGE’s total crowd funding earnings.
“He sent out information about this crowd funding and we chose to take advantage of it. What we have learned from his office is that two other initiatives have been funded through crowd funding,” Barrow said.
The new technology uses a catalyst, or nanopartical and heat, to speed up what was formerly a very long and messy process. Prior to using a catalyst, biofuels such as biodiesel were made in a process that took a lot of time and produced noxious by-products such as sulfuric acid.
In order to use the catalyst a reactor must be used to heat the ingredients and house the reaction. These reactors come at a cost. SAGE hopes that crowd funding will give them enough capital to invest in more reactors so that they can increase their production.
SAGE’s new development also addresses a key issue that has been looming over sustainable fuel technologist’s heads: The use of food as a fuel source. However that creates tension between food supplies and resource needs. This new biofuel production method uses biomass that is not edible such as wood chips, and yard waste.
“Some of the previous methods have been done in multiple steps,” Barrow said. “Using our nanopartical we are able to combine two very time consuming steps into one, it saves time and energy, all while using nonfood-based chemicals.”