Award amount:  $183,802

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh

North Carolina State University and Advanced Residuals Management are partnering on this project to identify and develop a new cost-effective feedstock for biofuels production compared to conventional agricultural practices. This project utilizes sludge from papermaking processes in North Carolina as a feedstock for ethanol production, avoiding landfill costs of the sludge.  Researchers are characterizing a variety of industrial sludges for ethanol production potential, and will evaluate the fractionation of the sludge into two valuable streams, a carbohydrate rich stream for ethanol and a carbonate rich stream for crop land applications.  Researchers will evaluate the conversion of sludge to ethanol for an extended continuous pilot plant evaluation and will conduct a rigorous economic evaluation to justify an industrial processing plant.

North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Wake

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.