A photo slideshow - the first photo shows bales of corn stover in northern Colorado with snow capped mountains in the background.
The caption reads "Bioenergy: Harvesting corn stover in northern Colorado. While today's ethanol production is primarily from the starch in kernels of field corn, researchers are developing technology to also produce ethanol from the fibrous material (cellulose and hemicellulose) in the corn stalks and hush or other agricultural or forestry residues."
The second photo shows a field of solar concentrators at SunEdison's new photovoltaic plant near Alamosa, Colorado. The caption reads "Photovoltaics: SunEdison's PV plant in Alamosa Colorado. What will soon be one of the nation's largest photovoltaic power plants, the 8.2 megawatt Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant in Colorado's San Luis Valley, is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2007."
The third photo shows wind turbines at the Ponnequin Wind Facility in northern Colorado. The caption reads "Wind Energy: Ponnequin Wind Facility in northern Colorado. Colorado's first commercial wind farm has 44 turbines that can generate up to 30 megawatts of electricity. The power produced at Ponnequin is sold through Xcel Energy's Windsource program."
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a research partnership among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado's premier research universities – Colorado State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado School of Mines.
The Collaboratory works with public agencies, private enterprise, nonprofit institutions and all of Colorado's universities and colleges to:
- Increase the production and use of energy from renewable resources like wind energy, solar energy, and biofuels
- Support economic growth in Colorado and the nation with renewable energy industries
- Build a renewable energy economy in rural Colorado and rural America
- Establish Colorado as America's leading center of renewable energy research and production
- Educate our nation's finest energy researchers, technicians and work force
In formation since March, 2006, the Collaboratory was formally established February 20, 2007, when the leaders of the four institutions signed the Collaboratory Agreement in the presence of Colorado's federal and state elected officials. The Collaboratory will receive up to $2 million per year from the State of Colorado for use as matching funds to attract research grants and contracts from federal and private sources.
The first major project of the Collaboratory, the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, (C2B2), was launched on July 1, 2007. The Center is a research venture between large and small businesses and the Collaboratory. C2B2 will perform cutting-edge research to develop new biofuels and biorefining technologies and transfer these advances as rapidly as possible to the private sector. Large businesses that have already joined C2B2 include Archers Daniels Midland, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Dow Chemical, DuPont, General Motors, Shell Global Solutions, Suncor Energy, Weyerhauser and WR Grace. A total of 27 large and small businesses are now members of C2B2.
The private sponsors of C2B2 have already committed more than $500,000 toward shared research projects and research fellowships, entitling C2B2 to receive an additional $500,000 in state matching funds. These funds were appropriated by the Colorado General Assembly in 2006 to support the Collaboratory.
Future Collaboratory research centers will focus on solar energy, wind energy, carbon management, and energy efficiency.
For more information, contact:
David Hiller
Executive Director
Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory
410 17th Street, Suite 1400
Denver CO 80202
303.376.2631 phone
303.376.2600 fax
