Leadership through Cooperation
The National Institute of Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization (NISTAC) and Sunflower Electric Power Corporation formed the Sunflower Integrated Bioenergy, LLC (SIB, LLC), to lead the development of the project. Sunflower Electric’s interest in rural development and responsible energy production has been an excellent fit with the technology commercialization and project development work of NISTAC.
NISTAC and Sunflower Electric have been aided by the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which has committed resources and expertise as part of its role to promote the bioscience industry throughout the state.
Local, state, and national political support have been essential to the project. Leadership by the Kansas Legislature and the Governor’s office resulted in beneficial bioenergy legislation for Kansas in 2007. In addition, Congressman Moran and Senators Brownback and Roberts led discussions with the USDA and the Department of Energy to educate agencies about the Center.
The founders of the Center also believe that similar synergies or subsets of the design of the Center will likely be replicated elsewhere as the Sunflower Integrated Bioenergy, LLC, is already pursuing requests to develop projects around other power plant locations.