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Q & A with Steven Pueppke, Director of the Office of Bio-based Technologies

Steven Pueppke

Q: What do we mean when we use the term “bioeconomy”?

A: Bioeconomy describes a future in which we are increasingly reliant on renewable resources to meet society’s needs for energy and raw materials. Instead of an economy dependent on the planet’s limited supply of nonrenewable resources, we can convert harvested plants or municipal and livestock wastes into electricity, fuels and the building blocks for chemical processes. To paraphrase Ramani Narayan, MSU chemical and biochemical engineering professor: in a bioeconomy we can replace energy and materials as fast as we use them. Today we can’t.

Q: Why is the bioeconomy so important to Michigan’s future?

A: There are many signs that the bioeconomy is becoming a reality, not just in Michigan but around the nation and the world. American consumers feel the sting of high energy prices and know that this energy comes from sources that will eventually run out. They are uncomfortable with our dependency on foreign nations for energy. The concept of renewable energy is something we all can feel good about.

American consumers have a hazier understanding of the other products made from petroleum – solvents, lubricants, plastics, etc. – but the same factors apply because the raw material is the same.

Our political leaders are telling us that they would like to see public policy promote the use of renewable resources and the development of our bioeconomy.

The bioeconomy is particularly important for Michigan because of our economic situation. We also have the prerequisites in place for a vibrant bioeconomy. Michigan has an abundance of raw materials – wood and crops that could be used as biomass. We have natural resources that could support the growth of dedicated biomass crops. We have strengths at MSU and at other universities in plant breeding and raw material processing. We have firms such as the automotive and furniture industries that want to incorporate more bio-based materials into their products. We have a skilled labor force. And
the state is strategically located near tens of millions of consumers. There aren’t many places that can claim all these assets.

Q: Why is MSU uniquely positioned to take a lead role in developing the bioeconomy?

A: We have three great strengths. The first is our faculty members, who are world-renowned for their work in the plant sciences, engineering and chemistry, and economics. The second is our 150-year-old land-grant tradition, with its emphasis on fostering partnerships with stakeholders and providing research and education to help solve their problems. Engagement of this sort is in our blood. The third is President Simon and her commitment to make MSU a leader in the bioeconomy. Other institutions have some of these strengths, but ours is the only one that has all three – and I believe that all three will be necessary.

Q: What role will the new Office of Bio-based Technologies play in this effort?

A: I see our office’s primary role as one of integration. Our traditional academic structure and land-grant tradition have given us all the raw materials (no pun intended) to be a leader in the bioeconomy, but we have to find new ways to link people and knowledge together. Our plant scientists will have to think more about traits that make sense for biomass. They’ll have to get acquainted with engineers who know what it takes to turn biomass into energy and platform chemicals. Engineers will have to learn more about plants. And everybody will have to talk to the economists. After all, the issue is not only what’s technically feasible – the bioeconomy has to make sense in dollars and cents, too.

We’ll also have to be more nimble in our interactions with the private sector. Universities are not in the business of being in business. We’re never going to produce a lot of biomass or refine it or manufacture products from it. But we have much to offer as partners with Michigan firms – of all sizes – that see opportunity in the new bioeconomy.

Q: As you look down the road, two decades from now, what do you envision related to the bioeconomy?

A: I envision a world of bio-refineries, some very large and others small, on farms or in rural communities. I see biomass that today is treated as a waste product going into these refineries as raw materials. And I see useful materials coming out. A single plant might produce chemical building blocks and a biofuel, and then what’s left generates heat or power. I suspect, too, that we will be much more efficient in the way that we use energy and raw materials.

And I see MSU continuing to provide the research and education to keep these refineries profitable, efficient and environmentally sound.