The innovations on Marathon Oil's rig fleet weren't a fluke.

They were the result of years of expensive experience and research.

Research is critical as America goes about filling its voracious 21st century appetite for energy.

No one source will be an entire solution. Instead, energy will come from oil, coal and natural gas, in old and new ways, along with wind power, hydrogen fuel cells and biomass-based fuels like ethanol.

With an annual research contract portfolio exceeding $150 million, the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota is a national and international player in the energy solutions business. The center is not state supported and most of its research contracts are with private business.

Its director, Gerry Groenewald, said research helps energy suppliers be proactive rather than reactive.

In all forms of energy, North Dakota is in the catbird seat.

Here are just a few of many research directions for North Dakota.

Groenewald said he's excited by the enormous opportunity to combine North Dakota's agriculture and energy, with research into 10 crop oils, like canola, along with the non-corn parts of the corn plant and other plant products that can be converted to fuel.

"The real opportunity is beyond corn," he said. "Corn-based ethanol is reaching its peak."

EERC research also could lead to more oil production at the same time capturing a greenhouse gas.

EERC, in a $250 million partnership project with regional states and Canadian provinces, will demonstrate whether carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas from coal, can be trapped in deep oil bearing formations in the Williston Basin. Injecting CO2 into oil strata enhances oil recovery and keeps it out of the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming.

Beyond that, the center has an entire research section devoted to extracting hydrogen from organic compounds, including water.

Hydrogen, stored in fuel cells like batteries, is a non-polluting option for powering car and other engines.

EERC research could lead to North Dakota having a head start in hydrogen technology.