Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Of the Plant Feedstocks Genomics for Bioenergy research program

Concerning the use of plants to produce biodiesel:


A Kansas State University biochemist is improving biofuels with a promising crop: Camelina sativa. The research may help boost rural economies and provide farmers with a value-added product.

Timothy Durrett, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, is part of collaborative team that has received a four-year $1.5 million joint U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy grant. The project, led by Colorado State University, was one of 10 projects funded this year as part of the federal Plant Feedstocks Genomics for Bioenergy research program.

Durrett and collaborators are developing Camelina sativa as a biodiesel crop for the Great Plains. Camelina, a nonfood oilseed crop, can be a valuable biofuel crop because it can grow on poorer quality farmland and needs little irrigation and fertilizer. It also can be rotated with wheat, Durrett said.

"Camelina could give farmers an extra biofuel crop that wouldn't be competing with food production," Durrett said. "This research can add value to the local agricultural economy by creating an additional crop that could fit in with the crop rotation."



link: http://www.chem.info/news/2014/10/building-better-biofuel

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