Nicholls receives funds for energy research

Future Use of Energy in Louisiana or FUEL announced its first round of investments in Use-Inspired Research and Development, with Nicholls State University being one of the three recipients. 
Nicholls was funded $146,797 to enable Dr. Ramaraj Boopathy and his team to investigate the anaerobic digestion of sugar cane bagasse, a prevalent agricultural residue in Louisiana with the significant potential for producing sustainable hydrogen and methane. The research focus is to help commercialize biofuel production and use in Louisiana. The funding is for one year with research that began in January 2025.  
Nicholls Alcee Fortier Distinguished Service Professor and John Brady Sr. and John Brady Jr. Endowed Professor of Biology Dr. Ramaraj Boopathy is the principal investigator of the grant. Co-principal investigators are Nicholls Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Dr. Himanshu Raje and Nicholls Department Head and Professor of Chemistry and Physical Sciences Dr. Darcey Wayment. The team’s Partner Institution Investigator is UL Lafayette’s Dr. Mark Zappi, executive director of the Energy Institute of Louisiana, director of the Center for Environmental Protection and director for the Louisiana C1 Extension Service.
The team is working with a private company in Natchitoches, PalmStar Energy, to create hydrogen and methane from agricultural crop residues via anaerobic digestion process to optimize the co-digestion process of agricultural residues, including bagasse, rice husk and chicken manure, to maximize methane and hydrogen production. 
The team will optimize pretreatment for maximum sugar yield from rice husk and sugarcane bagasse along with promoting the best anaerobic bacterial consortium to produce methane and hydrogen from the waste mix. Based on the team’s research, PalmStar Energy is set to operate a large commercial anaerobic digester to produce methane and hydrogen for commercial use. 
Nicholls is among a group of research institutions that will be awarded up to $160 million over the next 10 years, as part of the largest grant ever funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The FUEL consortium includes more than 50 public and private partners.
FUEL includes private energy companies, universities, community and technical colleges, and state agencies that will work together to drive technology and workforce development supporting Louisiana’s energy industry.