friday, October 9, 1981
page 8
daily nebrasksn
Subcommittee tries to snip federal grant strings
By D.L. Horton
Flexibility is the main point of the Grants Subcommit
tee of the National Conference of State Legislatures,
according to Sen. Shirley Marsh of Lincoln, its new chair
person. Marsh said the subcommittee will work to cut some of
the strings attached to federal block grant money.
The National Conference of State Legislatures uses re
search grants to collect information. It also distributes re
search funds from grants to appropriate state agencies.
The conference carries out projects funded by private
industry and government grants. Marsh said the grants the
conference uses must first undergo a long line of concept
approvals.
The conference has an office in Denver but also keeps
one in Washington to keep congressmen informed on
states' concerns.
The conference's research staff assists state legislators
by giving them information from other states.
A $95,000 grant from the Department of Energy has
been distributed by the conference to the energy informa
tion offices of six target states. The study will try to de
termine whether states should take up the slack left by
federal cuts in state energy offices. The study should help
other state legislators evaluate their energy offices, Marsh
said.
Nebraska's energy office is operating solely on state
dollars gained from a severance tax on energy produced
in the state. , , . ,
Marsh said the study could give Nebraska legislators
valuable information about whether to continue financing
Nebraska's energy office.
"You have a better chance of good things happening
with valid info.,' Marsh said.
Another conference study looks at the transportation
of radioactive material and the disposal of low-radiation
nuclear waste. The Nebraska Legislature already has dealt
with these issues.
Judy Jordan, who is directing the study from the Den
ver office, said in a telephone interview that the study
consists of no original research. It will monitor activities
with nuclear materials. The study is to act as an informa
tion broker which will result in a guide for legislators and
the public.
Another grant from the National Science Foundation
will continue the development of a legislative research
data center which is also in Denver. Under this service any
state legislator can call the center and receive by computer
copies of bills, legislative research and any other related
material on file. The legislators can save money by not
duplicating the research done in another state and avail
able for study, Marsh said.
Yet another grant would provide a clearing house for
those attempting to collect child support.
A study proposed by the national conference would
look at the states use of federal block grant money. It
would study the local impact of grants and how they re
late to changes in the level of service offered.
Acid trip through extruder turns cobs into fuel
Imagine corn cobs, husks and stalks being almost as
valuable to Nebraska farmers as the corn itself, a crop esti
mated to be worth $1.7 billion this year.
That could happen by 1990, according to William A.
Scheller, professor of chemical engineering at UNL'
"By 1990, 1 believe that there will be abailable a fully
commercialized process for turning Nebraska's agricultur
al residues into an alchohol fuel," Scheller siad. "This
type of fuel, a biomass energy product, can be used in
automobiles, farm machinery and other engines, and will
put Nebraska farmers further into the energy business."
While techniques for turning such substances into an al-
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An author and scholar of
physical education and hu
man movement will deliver
the 1981-82 distinguished
lecture in the Carlos L. Wear
Research Lecture Series at
UNL.
Mary Ann Roberton,
professor in the Department
of Physical Education and
Dance at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, will
speak Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 10
National Day of the Republic of China
In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of
the Republic of China, A Nation based
on the Three Principles of the People
founded by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, and a
government of the People
by the People, for the People
As the American people want this land
to be united with democracy and freedom,
the Chinese people would like to see
China to be reunited
without Communism or Marxism
FCA-UNL
CHINESE CULTURE PERFORMANCE
By the youth goodwill Mission from Taiwan, R.O.C.
This performance also
Kimball Hall 11 &R
Oct. 9, 1981 8:00 PM
Admission free
cohol fuel have been available to chemical engineers for
more than 50 years, the cost of such conversion has been
high.
"You can't just dump corn stalks and chemicals into a
big pot and stir," Scheller said. "They must be processed
in a manner that lends itself to commercial production.
We have to develop and refine the process so that it pro
duces the most product for the least amount of money
and in the shortest length of time."
Scheller andsRajesh J. Parikh, assistant professor of
chemical engineering, are working toward a solution. They
process the agricultural residues using an extruder.
Author speaks on movement
in Mabel Lee Hall. There
will be a reception later.
Her speech will be on
"Human Movement: A De
velopmental Perspective for
Research and Teaching."
Roberton has developed
curriculum and instructional
methods in elementary phy
sical education and lifespan
motor development.
The Carlos L. Wear Re-,
search Lecture Series was
established to bring distin
guished lecturers in the
fields of exercise physiolo
gy, kinesiology, sports psy
chology, sports medicine
and other scientific aspects
of physical education to
UNL.
Class teaches
time budgeting
Businesses can provide
employees with time
management training in the
office when "Personal Time
Management" begins Oct.
19 on the Nebraska Edu
cational Television Net
work. Offered by UNL's Div
ision of Continuing Studies,
the six week, half-hour
course begins at 8:30 a.m.,
repeating Wednesdays at the
same time. The course is
scheduled so employers and
employees can watch and
discuss it together at work.
The on-screen leader for
'Personal Time Manage
ment" is John S. Hoyt Jr., a
professor at the University
of Minnestoa. Hoyt discuss
es setting priorities, finding
systems that work for you,
making time for fun and
family and deciding when to
do a job yourself and when
to delegate it. Handling
trivia, making committee
staff meetings work,
scheduling your own and
other's time and work,
organizing your boss and
doing the distasteful and
difficult also are covered.
Tips on listening, ideas
for conference leaders, in
formation on stimulating
discussion, handling diffi
cult situations, evaluating
your habits and reducing
the time spent in com-!
mittee meetings are included.
marks part of the
celebration of the
National Day of
the Republic of China
FCA - UNL
The extruder is a machine used commercially .to pro
duce things like breakfast cereals and dry pet food. Ingre
dients are loaded in one end of the machine, then ground,
mixed and heated for a set length of time. Because the
materials move through the processing section of the
niachine as if they were on a conveyor belt, they can be
heated to varying temperatures during different phases of
processing. The processed mixture leaves the machine
through a narrow opening which, in the case of break
fast or pet foods, forms it into various shapes.
Extruder shapes residue
Though still being tested, the extruder seems to meet
many of Scheller and Parikh's requirements for process
ing agricultural residues. It is easy to operate, energy ef
ficient and lends itself to commercial processing.
Scheller and Parikh hydrolyze the residue with acid to
make alcohol. Stalks, cobs and husks are mixed with acid
and poured into a hopper that feeds them into the extrud
er. Cellulose the stringy or fiber part of the plants -and
other components are broken down into sugars by the
acid during the grinding and heating process.
The mass that results is then treated with other chemi
cals and mixed with yeast or varieties of bacteria and fer
mented into alcohol. Fermentation can take several hours
or days, depending on the number and type of micro
organisms used.
"What is so exciting about developing this type of fuel
is that it is a renewable energy source," Scheller said.
"While it cannot meet all energy needs, it can .be used in
cases where liquid or gaseous fuels are needed. It will also
help to conserve coal and petroleum resources, which are
not renewable."
Would provide surplus
Scheller estimated Nebraska could produce at least 300
million gallons of alcohol a year from half of its agricul
tural residues. This amount would not only turn all of the
state's gasoline into gasohol at the current conversion rate
of one part alcohol to nine parts unleaded gasoline, but
also provide a large surplus for export.
Only half of the agricultural residues would be used for
this project. The other half would be left in the fields for
erosion control and soil conditioning, he said.
The Nebraska Legislature has a history of initiating and
supporting research and development of alternate energy
sources, Scheller said. Ten years ago, Sen Loran Schmit of
Bellwood introduced legislation establishing the Nebraska
gasohol project. This project included studies of the eco
nomic feasibility and methods for converting wheat and
corn into grain alcohol and blending it with unleaded gas
oline to produce gasohol.
Until the 1973-74 OPEC oil embargo and subsequent
price increases, the program received little national recog
nition. But since then, Nebraska's studies have been a
foundation for the nation's alcohol fuel program.
Federal agencies have since supported some of the re
search efforts.
No "greenhouse effect"
In addition to reducing our dependence on imported
energy and being renewable, hiomass fuels are important
contributions to the environment. They don't increase
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As plants grow, they
recycle the carbon dioxide that is released when they are
burned. Carbon dioxide from coal and petroleum, on the
other hand, accumulate in the atmosphere,
"A build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
could have a devasting effect on the world," Scheller said.
"As recently reported in the journal Science, if the build
up continues, predictions indicate that climate changes
could turn the western United States and parts of Canada
into a desert. Biomass fuels cannot totally eliminate this
problem, but they can contribute to the solution."
l-tw'A180 what to do with the residue
len aner all the alcohol has been extracted. When the acid
is neutralized, the "goop" acts like plaster. Scheller said it
may be made into a low-cost sheet-rock.
Scheller? and Parikh said they're only beginning to
S $ -U.ns 1 comPle gy problem. They
S.?i J?m r s,tudy of to conversion of municipal
lc tt, ? a,Lqmd fuel soon- also want to test and
EJkSv cornmercial method of using enzymes
to break down the cellulose in agricultural residues.
