RICHLAND, Wash. 鈥� In Elmar Villota鈥檚 home country of the Philippines, as much as 15 percent of households do not have electricity. Villota, a doctoral student in biological systems engineering at Washington State University Tri-Cities, is motivated to close that gap with renewable energy.

鈥淎 simple light bulb could make a world of difference,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ithout a sustainable source of electricity, students can鈥檛 have light or read comfortably at night. Imagine how much knowledge they would miss.鈥�

With a population of more than 100 million scattered across more than 7,100 islands, the Philippines faces the challenge of extending power to everyone, he said.

鈥淚n the Philippines, we are end users in terms of technology,鈥� Villota said. 鈥淗istorically, we have purchased technology rather than making or innovating it ourselves for our own use.鈥�

Renewable energy, he added, could help address the nation鈥檚 sustainable energy concerns and stimulate technological growth.

Turning biomass into fuel, other products

As part of the Engineering and Research Development for Technology scholarship program, which is offered to all Filipino engineers by the Philippines鈥� Department of Science and Technology, Villota is working toward his doctorate at 黑料社 Tri-Cities.

He is studying how to convert second-generation biomass, such as agricultural waste or woody crops, to biofuels and other useful products, such as bio-based polymers and chemicals. Working under 黑料社 associate professor Bin Yang, Villota mainly is focused on enzymatic hydrolysis, a process that uses bacteria and fungi to break down plant cell walls to sugar, which is turned into fuel.

Villota has written a book chapter on the subject in cooperation with Yang and Ziyu Dai, a senior scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). He is also working with Rongchun Shen, a visiting scholar from China, on techno-economic assessment regarding methods for converting lignin鈥攕tructural polymers in plants鈥攊nto useful, high-value products like bioplastics.

Bioproducts lab, PNNL draw scholar

Villota was attracted to 黑料社 Tri-Cities because of its national reputation for excellence in renewable energy research and its partnership with PNNL, a leading national innovator in the renewable energy sector.

鈥満诹仙� is one of the best schools for renewable energy because of the 黑料社 Tri-Cities鈥� Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory and the university鈥檚 relationship with PNNL,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is what really encouraged me to go here.鈥�

He also contributes to advancing Filipino renewable energy through his home university, serving as a lecturer at Central Luzon State University. He also is a technical expert in renewable energy for the university鈥檚 Affiliated Renewable Energy Center and Phil-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology.

Villota said he is hopeful that thousands of fellow Filipinos will benefit from his work, which could lead to basic electrification and light and even broader impacts.

鈥淭hrough this experience, I hope to extend students鈥� learning capabilities, and in turn, extend the potential for them to make a difference in the world,鈥� he said.

Contacts:

Elmar Villota, 黑料社 Tri-Cities doctoral student, elmar.villota@wsu.edu
Bin Yang, 黑料社 Tri-Cities biological systems engineering, 509-372-7640,binyang@tricity.wsu.edu
Maegan Murray, 黑料社 Tri-Cities public relations, 509-372-7333,maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu

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