By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

URBANA, Ill. — As an officer of a new 12-state collaborative effort aimed at promoting growth of biofuel production in the Midwest, Dennis Campion sees its appeal in strength of numbers, particularly when it comes to seeking research patronage.

“If we have this umbrella over (the 12 states), we have the greatest opportunity for growing our bio-economy,” the University of Illinois (UoI) associate dean for extension explained.

The umbrella is the North Central Bio-economy Consortium (NCBEC), headed by Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen as its president. Campion is secretary and the vice president is Forrest Chumley, associate director of research for Kansas State University’s ag experiment station. The other nine member states are Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

The consortium will bring together all 12 states’ departments of agriculture, university extension services and ag experiment stations, said Campion.

Each of the three officers represents one of these branches; their terms are for two years.

Its goal, he said, is not to regulate biofuel research or private business development, but to harness and share knowledge and resources intended to help the region, which Nilsestuen has nicknamed “the Bio-Belt.” According to its website at www.ncbioconsortium.org, it is also intended to raise public and legislative awareness about biofuel.

“It’ll be a vehicle to get that information out to people who can put it to use right away,” Campion said of scientific and marketing research.

As a practical example, he pointed to this spring’s nationwide collective decision to plant the most corn acres since 1944, to take advantage of higher prices because of ethanol.

“This would help farmers answer something like ‘Should I be thinking about growing more corn, in relation to soybeans, right now?’” he explained, adding the consortium is an agency that will “foster, support and coordinate” for alternative fuel production.

Biofuel – particularly ethanol – “has the potential for positive economic impact in the Midwest as anything I’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Nilsestuen.

Two years ago, when his office was putting together an alternative energy plan for Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Campion said a meeting was held in Madison, Wis., involving representatives of the aforementioned three branches from several states.

Its topic was how to parlay their natural resources into biomass and communicate to the public to reduce dependence on pure petroleum.

“If we think of our 12 collective states, we’ve got over 50 percent of the biomass, 74 percent of the crop residue (such as corn sulfur) and 70 percent of the switchgrass, from the CRP (federal Conservation Reserve) program” in the nation, he said.

Part of the consortium’s intent is to pool applications for funding. Some institutions are already working under partnerships, such as one Campion named among UoI, the University of California-Berkeley and BP, the latter of which is financing it to the tune of $500 million. Its goal is to improve the genetic composition and processing of plant products for fuel.

And it’s not just corn. There are soybeans for biodiesel and woody plants for cellulosic ethanol to consider as well. UoI researchers are working with miscanthus grass; other institutions are studying switchgrass. In the north, there are trees and brush that could be a source of cellulosic ethanol.

“Wisconsin is the number-one paper-producing state in the country, so we have a well-established and mature paper production industry that is geared up for this,” Nilsestuen said, adding the same is true in Michigan and Minnesota.

Right now, he estimates 60 percent of his state’s cut trees’ raw material is left in the forest because they can’t be converted to lumber. Utility companies that would normally burn trimmed limbs and brush could also contribute woody waste.

There is no headquarters for the consortium, and support staff comes from various offices of participating member institutions and departments, as does part of the funding (matching money comes from the Energy Foundation, a private organization).

Nilsestuen joked he was elected president “because I didn’t step back from the line quick enough.” He and Campion both grew up on dairy farms and Nilsestuen is former CEO and president of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives – which was stumping for another alternative fuel, gasohol, as early as 25 years ago.

Nilsestuen believes the 12 states can work together, rather than compete with one another for biofuel opportunities.

“Historically, we all like each other and wave at each other on the road,” he said, “but there’s not as much cooperation as there could be.”