- (Focus Area) Economic Development
- Author: Lauren Biron, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
UC ANR to help create database, support technology for sustainable bioproducts and biofuels
In California's Northern San Joaquin Valley, crop leftovers such as almond shells, fruit peels and orchard trimmings can potentially be converted into sustainable bioproducts and biofuels – with the right technology. The philanthropy Schmidt Sciences' Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future, which supports replacing fossil feedstocks with renewable biomass sources, has awarded new funding to a group investigating how to make better use of the diverse agricultural waste in the region.
“This is an important project for California as it quantifies the diverse ‘ingredients' in the North San Joaquin Valley available to fuel the emerging biomanufacturing industry in the state,” said Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. “This foundational work will kickstart a completely new innovation bioeconomy in the Central Valley that will create new high-paying jobs for our communities and support a resilient food and agriculture industry through circular biomanufacturing.”
Circular biomanufacturing is a process that uses waste streams as raw materials to create new products.
“Circular means taking waste streams from agriculture such as almond shells or grape pomace, forest waste or food processing waste and using that material as the ‘feedstock' in a fermentation tank to create new bioproducts,” Youtsey explained.
The group, “Building the Circular Bioeconomy in the North San Joaquin Valley” or BioCircular Valley, is co-led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Berkeley, and BEAM Circular, with partners at UC Merced, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Almond Board of California and USDA Agricultural Research Station in Albany.
“California has this incredible diversity of materials, but they aren't well understood – and this makes it difficult to know how to extract the most value out of them,” said Corinne Scown, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley and one of the project leads. “We want to characterize them and make that information available so companies can more easily figure out which feedstock is a good match for them, and then use that agricultural residue to make everything from bio-based polymers and chemicals to sustainable materials and aviation fuels.”
One of the group's goals is to build a publicly accessible database and user-friendly map full of information about different feedstocks, the raw plant materials and biomass that can be broken down and used to make bioproducts. That includes where feedstocks are located, when they are available, how they are currently disposed of, how they perform in different bioreactors, how much sugar or lignin they contain, whether they can be processed with other feedstocks, their greenhouse gas footprint, the potential cost, and much more.
UC ANR's role is to collect data on available feedstocks from forest, agricultural and food processing byproducts, as well as municipal waste streams through sampling and observation.
“We will do this through the extensive knowledge and relationships we have with the California agriculture industry in the North San Joaquin Valley,” Youtsey said. “UC ANR will also support industry outreach as new ‘conversion' technologies are developed, to pilot them with California growers and processors.”
The project will also test ways to improve the flexibility of the conversion process, which breaks down feedstocks to prepare them to make bioproducts. Researchers will apply artificial intelligence to their lab-generated data to improve predictions of how feedstocks can be processed most efficiently or blended together. Being able to use the same technique on different (or mixed) kinds of plant matter would open up ways for companies to make bioproducts more easily.
“Our region has a fantastic combination of diverse and large-scale agricultural activities alongside manufacturing expertise, making this a great place to scale up bioeconomy innovation,” said Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular. “This project will allow us to reduce barriers to using our region's abundant waste streams in more sustainable and valuable ways, so that we can create the products that people need with renewable inputs that are better for the planet.”
The project builds on ongoing efforts to establish biomanufacturing capabilities in the northern San Joaquin Valley, which includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties. Providing better data on how to convert the valley's millions of tons of agricultural waste into valuable products may spur biomanufacturing companies to build facilities nearby, minimizing how far the raw materials have to be moved and generating new jobs.
“This project is designed to benefit a region that has massive potential, but so far has been economically left behind, and to develop a new industry that can provide improvements in air quality, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions as well as significant opportunities in economic equity and the creation of new jobs,” said Blake Simmons, director of Berkeley Lab's Biological Systems and Engineering Division and the BioCircular Valley project lead.
“This kind of research started as basic science, and now we're bringing information and solutions to people who can use them. And the knowledge generated through this project will advance not only the ability of the NSJV to make use of its own regionally available future feedstocks, but will also accelerate the understanding of feedstocks relevant across California and across the U.S.”
The new funds for the project come from the Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future, a partnership between Schmidt Sciences and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture that supports collaboration on research to transform biomass into alternative feedstocks for biomanufacturing. The award is one of five announced today, which total $47.3 million over five years. It is expected that the five teams will collaborate to share best practices and knowledge to boost the bioeconomy at the national level.
“We are grateful for Schmidt's generous support that will help deploy advanced technologies on the ground,” said Alicia Chang, interim president of Berkeley Lab Foundation. “The foundational research and expertise developed through work for the Department of Energy sets the stage for this team to apply their capabilities to bring jobs and lift the community and the economy in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.”
/h3>- Author: Ria DeBiase, UC Giannini Foundation
How policies affect emissions, land use, and the prices of fuel and vegetable oils
Over the last two decades, both the federal government and state governments have enacted policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. In a new Special Issue of ARE Update, University of California agricultural economists explore how these federal and state renewable fuel policies have affected biofuel production for motor and aviation fuels and consider how these policies have affected land use and food prices. Their research shows that as U.S. demand for renewable diesel began to outpace supply, consumer prices for vegetable oil—which is used as a feedstock for renewable diesel—surged.
The national Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), implemented in 2006 and 2011, respectively, have led to an increase in the amount of biofuels consumed and produced in the United States. While the RFS mandates that a minimum volume of renewable fuels be blended into U.S. transportation fuels, the LCFS sets an annually increasing targeted reduction in transportation-related carbon emissions. The LCFS set a 2030 target date to reduce GHG emissions by 20% through the development of a carbon trading program that requires refiners who produce ‘dirtier' fuels to buy credits from those who produce cleaner (e.g., renewable) fuels.
The authors show that after 2020, whenLCFS credit prices (i.e.,biofuel subsidies) were high, California saw an increasing volume of motor fuel coming from renewable diesel — which previously only made up around 5% of the state's diesel blend. Currently, the retail diesel blend in California is 35% conventional diesel and 65% renewable diesel.
By 2023, renewable diesel was the most consumed renewable fuel in California and also generated the most credits under the LCFS. Because renewable diesel is a perfect substitute for “conventional diesel,” it does not need to be blended with conventional diesel, unlike biodiesel which is chemically different from renewable diesel.
The agricultural inputs used to make renewable diesel can be used not only in the production of motor oil, but also in the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Additional tax credits set forth in the 2021 Inflation Reduction Act aim to bring about a 100-fold increase in the production of these fuels by by the end of decade. However, the authors of the second article show that current incentives to produce SAFs are not large enough to overcome the opportunity cost of instead using these fuels for on-road use.
After the drastic increase in demand for renewable diesel (up 500% over the last five years), a higher percentage now comes from edible vegetable oils. This increased demand almost certainly plays a role in increasing inflationary pressure on foods such as cooking oils.
“From 2018 to 2024, food-at-home inflation was 24%, but over the same period, fats and oils inflation was 83%,” said UC Davis professor and co-author Jens Hilscher.
The increased demand for these oils from the United States has also led to booms in production in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, and some of the land conversion into these vegetable oil crops could result in deforestation. Greenhouse gas emissions are a global challenge. The authors show that local biofuel mandates often succeed in moving U.S. consumption of these fuels from one product or region to another without necessarily decreasing emissions at the national level. Their research emphasizes the importance of a coordinated effort to target emission reductions with a careful eye to the indirect consequences that inevitably result from ambitious policies.
To learn more about how federal and statewide renewable fuel policies have affected the demand for biofuels, read the full Special Issue of ARE Update 27(5), UC Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, online at https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1719507310/21010/.
ARE Update is a bimonthly magazine published by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics to educate policymakers and agribusiness professionals about new research or analysis of important topics in agricultural and resource economics. Articles are written by Giannini Foundation members, including University of California faculty and Cooperative Extension specialists in agricultural and resource economics, and university graduate students. Learn more about the Giannini Foundation and its publications at https://giannini.ucop.edu.
/h3>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"I have decided I do not want to be the queen bee because she never ever gets to smell the flowers!" the Petaluma resident said. "I would much rather be a worker bee! The queen bee has a short life which I have already avoided, of course, and plan on many more years in the garden."
Ettamarie, in her eighth decade, is a retired teacher who taught school for 37 years, has kept bees for 30 years, and has volunteered as the leader of a 4-H beekeeping project for the past 25 years.
A worker bee, she is!
The Vacaville Museum Children's Party, open to Vacaville children between the ages of 3 and 9, will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the museum courtyard at 213 Buck Ave., Vacaville. Tickets, limited to 250, are $3 for children (same price for adults accompanying them). Tickets must be purchased at the museum on Thursdays through Saturdays between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Coordinators Pamela King and Diana McLaughlin said the event, themed "Fun on the Farm," will include 4-H animals, a walk-around Mother Goose, face-painting, and a ring toss with a hobby horse named Trigger (the work of Peter Shull and Georganne Gebers), Among the many other activities, the youngsters will create sand art jars, craft paper crowns, plant seeds in a take-home container, and pose for photos behind a Bohart Museum of Entomology dogface butterfly cutout banner. Lunch, on the house, will include hog dogs, popcorn, chips, cookies and water.
But back to Ettamarie Peterson.
“I started beekeeping before I retired in 1998 from 37 years of teaching,” she said. “My teaching career was mostly in special education, following a few years teaching second and first grade. I became one of the first resource teachers in California back in 1980 after getting my master's degree in special education."
Active in the beekeeping industry, Ettamarie has served as president and treasurer of Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association (SCBA) "for many years" and edits the SCBA newsletter, The Monthly Extractor.
She loves "talking bees." She shows her glassed-in bee observation hive at schools and other venues. She collects swarms for her Liberty 4-H Club beekeepers. "I got involved in 4-H when my son wanted his daughters to learn how to keep bees,” she recalled. “They are both parents now so I am hoping to teach the three great-grandsons, too!"
Her interests also include bee photography, raising chickens, growing vegetables. and planting flowers “for the bees and butterflies. My granddaughter and I have a special garden in front of my house for bees and butterflies."
Ettamarie is also a longtime friend and supporter of UC Davis. She delivered a tribute to the late Eric Mussen (1946-2022), a 38-year California Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.
She and her husband, Ray (a non-beekeeper), enjoy life on the Peterson Ranch. "We've been married for 65 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren! What a wonderful life I have!”
Just don't call her a queen bee, please. She'd rather be a worker bee!
- Author: Saoimanu Sope
Ahmed El-Moghazy joined UC Agriculture and Natural Resources as a UC Cooperative Extension food safety specialist in February and is based at UC Riverside. Food safety, according to El-Moghazy, are measures that ensure food is free from harmful contaminants, prevent foodborne illnesses and is safe to eat. El-Moghazy is responsible for assisting California farmers and food processing facilities to enhance food safety practices by training appropriate personnel and addressing food-safety issues on their farms.
As the principal investigator for the 2-SAFE Lab at UC Riverside, El-Moghazy is investigating the accuracy and applicability of point-of-use biosensor technology. The small, lightweight and easy-to-use sensor can be used while out in the field or in a packing house to test contamination of liquids such as irrigation and washing water or solids like food samples.
Testing for foodborne pathogens traditionally takes two to three days and the process can be costly. The biosensor technology that El-Moghazy is using is inexpensive and can provide results within one work shift, which allows businesses that grow fresh produce to confirm the safety of their products before sending them to the market.
The alternative, selling contaminated food to consumers, is not only detrimental to human health, but can ruin the reputation of businesses, making way for unanticipated costs associated with recalling contaminated products and regulatory consequences including fines and sanctions.
El-Moghazy is also developing the next generation of antimicrobial surface coatings and materials that can rapidly control the foodborne pathogens and hinder the transfer of harmful bacteria from contaminated food to non-contaminated food.
El-Moghazy is optimistic that his research can safeguard public health, reduce the burden of foodborne illness and protect the integrity of businesses. Although El-Moghazy serves the entire state, he is dedicating a large part of his needs assessment and efforts in Southern California where high-value specialty crops such as avocados and citrus are grown.
"Did you know that one in every six Americans get sick from eating food contaminated with a foodborne pathogen?" asked El-Moghazy. Understanding the fatality of foodborne illnesses, El-Moghazy believes that increasing awareness through education is an essential aspect of his role. "It's true, but not many people realize this, or that 40% of foodborne illnesses stem from fresh produce."
To protect consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires farms with a certain level of annual sales (adjusted for inflation) of fruits and vegetables typically consumed raw to have one employee who has completed an FDA-approved Produce Safety Rule Grower Training.
In addition to certified trainings, El-Moghazy offers technical assistance to ensure growers comply before and after inspections, as well as resources for several topics including produce safety, agriculture water, flooding, soil amendments, worker health, hygiene and training and postharvest handling and sanitation. He can also assist in developing food-safety plans and other general farm food-safety protocols. His technical expertise covers all aspects of food production and supply including irrigation water quality, hygiene of harvesting tools and transportation.
Before joining ANR, El-Moghazy completed two years as a visiting scholar in the UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering department before continuing as a postdoctoral fellow in the UC Davis Food Science and Technology department for 5 years. Much of his work was rooted in the development of biosensors and antimicrobial materials for food safety. While in Davis, he collaborated with local farms and food processing companies on food safety research and extension.
El-Moghazy earned a Ph.D. studying developmental biosensors for food safety applications to detect pesticides residues from a joint program offered by University of Perpignan in France and Alexandria University in Egypt. He also earned a master's degree in developmental biobased fungicides and a bachelor's in agriculture science from Alexandria University. Finally, he completed a fellowship at the Institute of Plant Protection, Szent Istvan University in Hungary, where he studied how to extend shelf-life of fresh produce using biomaterials.
El-Moghazy is based at UC Riverside in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. He can be reached at aelmogha@ucr.edu or (951) 827-0257.
- Author: Grace Nguyen-Sovan Dean
La recién establecida Escuela de Arboricultura de California pretende preparar a los propietarios de bosques para que sepan cómo enfrentarse a los cambios que inevitablemente están experimentando sus áreas forestales ante el cambio climático.
La inspiración para la escuela de California se produjo cuando Kim Ingram, coordinadora de la Academia de Gestión Forestal, Katie Reidy, coordinadora académica de post incendios y Kocher asistieron al evento de la Escuela de Arboricultura de Extensión de la Universidad del Estados de Oregón en el condado de Clackamas, en Oregón.
Desde el 2020, el programa de Educación para Administradores de Bosques de UC ANR (FSE, por sus siglas en inglés) ha ayudado a los propietarios de bosques de California a ser proactivos ante dichos cambios. Los programas de talleres Forest Stewardship (Administración Forestal) y Post-Fire Forest Resilience (Resiliencia Forestal Tras los Incendios) usan un formato educativo en línea que guía a los propietarios de bosques sobre los pasos básicos para crear planes de gestión forestal y de paisajes después de los incendios, respectivamente. Actualmente, el equipo de FSE lleva a cabo el piloto de un nuevo programa para involucrar a una mayor audiencia de propietarios de bosques y miembros de la comunidad apasionados por los árboles.
Durante esta primavera, los equipos de Forest Stewardship y UC ANR Fire Network están llevando a cabo la primera Escuela de Arboricultura de California en la que las personas asisten a múltiples clases presenciales sobre los temas de silvicultura que más les interesan. “Los programas en línea están muy enfocados en los planes para la gestión forestal y actividad después de incendios y [la Escuela de Arboricultura] nos permite abordar otros temas”, manifestó Susie Kocher, asesora en bosques y recursos naturales de UC ANR
Un solo paso para continuar con la formación forestal
La Escuela de Arboricultura de OSU consiste en una experiencia de todo un día compuesta de clases que abarcan las diferentes dimensiones de silvicultura: la construcción de una casa con su propia madera, comercio de emisión de carbono y la compra de aserraderos portátiles son tan solo una pequeña muestra de las opciones que tienen los asistentes. Los estudiantes de la Escuela de Arboricultura de OSU van desde propietarios de bosques a estudiantes de colegios comunitarios, contribuyendo a un espacio que facilita las conexiones comunitarias y el aprendizaje.
Kocher describió la experiencia como “un día estupendo, una ventanilla única para estar al día de lo que nosotros [propietarios y profesionales forestales] debemos saber”. Emocionadas por la amplitud de oportunidades que ofrece la Escuela de Arboricultura de OSU, Ingram, Kocher y Reidy se sintieron inspiradas para traer el formato a California.
“Es nuestro momento para hablar sobre el ecosistema completo”, señaló Reidy. “La Escuela de Arboricultura aporta la confianza, un grupo confiable de expertos quienes pueden proporcionar más información sobre las preguntas relacionadas con las metas específicas de los propietarios”.
La primera Escuela de Arboricultura de California se llevó a cabo en Hopland el pasado 4 de mayo y la segunda será en El Dorado el 1 de junio. Similar a la Escuela de Arboricultura de OSU, se anticipaba una asistencia compuesta por propietarios de bosques, profesionales de recursos naturales y miembros de la comunidad interesados en el tema.
Conectando a los profesionales a nivel estatal y personalizando la educación forestal
La Escuela de Arboricultura ofrece a los asistentes la oportunidad de centrarse en temas que pertenecen a sus necesidades específicas de aprendizaje. Este enfoque personalizado es una nueva incursión para el equipo de administración de bosques, pero es algo que Ingram dice que los participantes del taller han estado deseando desde hace algún tiempo.
“Nuestros participantes nunca piensan que aprenden suficiente. Siempre están pidiendo más información y esta Escuela de Arboricultura nos da la oportunidad de ampliar sobre cosas que no hemos tenido la oportunidad de repasar durante la serie de talleres”, remarcó Ingram. Además, los instructores de la Escuela de Arboricultura cuentan con la libertad creativa a la hora de desarrollar sus clases, desde el tema hasta el formato de la clase. Eso se hace evidente al consultar el catálogo de las clases de cada sesión. Los asistentes de la Escuela de Arboricultura de California eligen asistir a cuatro clases, lo cual significa que pueden construir su primera pila de quema, entender los entresijos de la fauna silvestre, pintar al aire libre y conocer cómo apoyar los esfuerzos de reforestación a nivel estatal, todo en un uno.
“Siento que la Escuela de Arboricultura creó un sentido de confianza en torno a temas complejos”, indicó Reidy sobre su experiencia del año pasado en Oregón. Para la Escuela de Arboricultura de California, el equipo de administración de bosques intenta hacer lo mismo. Esto significa reclutar a través de la red de UC ANR y otras organizaciones, incluyendo CALFIRE y California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (Asociación de Distritos de Recursos para la Conservación o ARCD, por sus siglas en ingles), para aportar voces de confianza a la comunidad.
“Lo que tiene de emocionante la Escuelas de Arboricultura es que estamos aportando profesionales en recursos naturales de todas partes para atraer a todos a la misma vez y en un solo lugar”, manifestó Ingram.
El equipo esta emocionado de ver todas las conexiones que se harán entre los miembros de la comunidad y profesionales durante este año piloto “y si tiene éxito podemos repetirlo el año próximo”, comentó Kocher, “estamos definitivamente interesados en colaborar con más gente y expandir nuestro alcance”.
Hacer que la Escuela de Arboricultura de California fuera una experiencia en persona fue importante para el equipo ya que mucha de la educación es práctica. Además, Kocher ve un potencial adicional para hacer conexiones personales: “En persona, tienes esta oportunidad para que la gente se identifique como parte de la comunidad”, destacó Kocher, “así que estoy muy emocionado de que las personas pasen el rato entre si”.
Promover una comunidad informada
“No se puede separar lo emocional de lo físico y hay muchos temas sobre bosques como los incendios forestales y la economía que pueden ser un poco desalentadores”, señaló Ingram. “Estoy emocionada de ayudar a crear un ambiente de aprendizaje positivo en el que las personas se sientan motivadas a buscar en Extensión Cooperativa de UC este tipo de recursos”.
“Nuestro principal objetivo es difundir las ciencias”, coincidió Reidy. “Entre más expuesta este la gente a las ciencias, mayor es la confianza que sienten en sí mismos y en sus deseos y necesidades”.