Award Data

Up until the early twentieth century, several commodity chemicals were produced by the pyrolysis of hardwoods (e.g., methanol, acetic acid, acetone) or the extraction of softwoods (turpentine, terpenes, rosins, pitches, and tars). The expected long term increase in petroleum and natural gas prices will cause a gradual but steady return to biomass feedstocks over the next several decades. Other dri ...

Farms are faced with increasing problems managing manure from animal operations. Alternate innovative methods to deal with the handling and distribution of the manure solids materials and nutrients are needed to allow farms to economically comply with increased regulations. The purpose of this project is to further the development of a concept to utilize farm animal waste material in a manner that ...

Present supplies of rainbow smelt, both for live bait and human consumption, are provided, almost exclusively, by commercial harvest of wild populations. This project will develop alternative sources of rainbow smelt for the market and eventually reduce the harvest of wild populations. This project will shift the focus from commercial fishing of wild public resources to commercial fish culture tec ...

Many rural older adults are often forced to leave the homes in which they have raised families and lived for decades because they can no longer physically, financially, or emotionally maintain their homes. Until now, little attention has been focused on technological tools, social structures, and practical ways to empower people to remain in their homes. This proposal fills that gap. The demograph ...

An important problem facing rural America is the lack of job opportunities. This is particularly true in much of the arid southwestern U.S. These rural communities have little that they can export into commodity priced markets. Hence, this region has among the highest incidence (% of county population) of poverty in the U.S. Yet, the southwestern U.S. has abundant solar energy which could provide ...

A nitrate biosensor based on the enzyme nitrate reductase will be formulated for agricultural applications. The nitrate biosensor will be used to analyze nitrate standards for calibration and nitrate content of real world samples extracted from plants and soils. The resulting data will demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a prototype nitrate biosensor for application in agriculture in Phase ...

Modern agriculture depends on pesticides to curb infestations and increase crop yield and to produce the quantity and quality of food demanded by today's society. However, many pesticides kill insects by attack of the central nervous system, and use of excessive concentrations pose a threat to human health. The EPA Office of Pesticide Programs is charged with setting tolerance levels (generally fr ...

Lobster is sold today on a non-branded commodity basis with little regard for consumer desires and needs. The opportunity to build a Maine lobster brand is threatened by new Country of Origin regulations since today basic meat extraction practices take place primarily in Canada. Creating a brand of value-added Maine lobster products offers a significant opportunity to turn a commodity driven sale ...

The content of trans fatty acids in the hydrogenated edible oils is associated with the large increase in coronary heart disease. This project is to develop a new process to produce hydrogenated edible vegetable oils with low trans fatty acid content.

The short read range of current cattle electronic identification ear tags threatens to hinder the widespread adoption and utility of the USDA-developed National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Tag readers that require placement within inches of an animal's ear in order to read the NAIS number introduce obstacles at various points in the beef production cycle. This project will determine if be ...