A win-win-win solution for biofuel, climate, and biodiversity

Fossil fuel emissions release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, which is changing the climate and threatening the sustainability of life on planet Earth. In Brazil, the demand for alternative energy ...

Sun, water, CO2 and algae: A recipe for biofuel?

Plant-based biofuels were initially hailed as the answer to all problems posed by traditional fossil fuels. Supply is unlimited and they are also neutral to emissions harmful to the environment also. But using plants has ...

Sharing the risks, costs of biomass crops

Farmers who grow corn and soybeans can take advantage of government price support programs and crop insurance, but similar programs are not available for those who grow biomass crops such as Miscanthus. A University of Illinois ...

An enzyme to ease biofuel production

Limited availability of fossil fuels stimulates the search for different energy resources. The use of biofuels is one of the alternatives. Sugars derived from the grain of agricultural crops can be used to produce biofuel ...

A new sense of urgency for energy cane and other energy crops

"Energy cane" may sound like a trendy sports drink, but it actually is among a new generation of energy crops that could yield up to 5 times more ethanol per acre than corn. They are the topic of the cover story in this week's ...

Simple moss plants outperform us by gene number

At the genetic level, mosses are more complex than humans: A group of German, Belgian and Japanese scientists, coordinated by Professor Ralf Reski from the University of Freiburg, Germany, published a new study where they ...

Planning in the near term for climate change

When scientists talk about climate change, they usually mean significant changes in the measures of climate over several decades or longer. Climate variability generally refers to seasonal changes over a year or so.

Have you had your cereal today?

Cereals are grasses that produce grains, the bulk of our food supply. Carnegie's Plant Biology Department is releasing genome-wide metabolic complements of several cereals including rice, barley, sorghum, and millet. Along ...

Black locust showing promise for biomass potential

Researchers from the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois, evaluating the biomass potential of woody crops, are taking a closer look at the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), which showed a higher ...

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