Energy Crop

Gazing out on a freshwater pond, you may see tiny green plants with oval-shaped leaves floating in clusters. In overgrown ponds, these plants coat the water's surface. These plants—called duckweed or water lentils—can grow so fast that they can double their numbers in just one to two days. But what you can't see in that pond is the evolutionary battle between the plants and microbes trying to invade them.

Everyday, 45,000 planes fly across the United States, carrying some 1.7 million passengers. Aviation dominates a frequent traveler's individual contribution to climate change, and yet is one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize.

The overall goal of this project is to evaluate performance of new miscanthus varieties and improved sustainability within the overall miscanthus biomass supply chain. Specifically, to identify energy crop production that is dependable, high-yielding, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable. Also, provide empirical data on yieldsand environmental effectsof bioenergy crops associated with different…

Applying ground-up silicate rock to Midwestern farm fields can capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide and prevent it from accumulating in the atmosphere, according to a new study that successfully quantified those climate benefits for the first time.

In North Dakota, a new study from U.S. Geological Survey biologists shows that grassland birds in North Dakota have responded more negatively to the expansion of corn and soybeans as compared with oil and gas development and other types of agriculture. In the Great Plains, corn and soybeans, the raw feedstocks used for bioethanol and […]

In the UK, Edie reported that a new research published by the Royal Society warned that "there is no single simple answer to decarbonizing aviation", other than "reducing the amount of air travel or relying on long-term offsets". The report noted that the research warns that any solution would face challenges in terms of the […]

A new analysis has found that biogas and biomethane, while more climate friendly, leak more than twice as much methane as previously thought.

References to climate change almost guarantee funding, even for research topics of little interest beyond academia and eco-activists. Polls reveal that most people worry most about energy and food prices,

In the context of trade-offs between land use and biodiversity, geographers have simulated land saving potentials for agriculture.

We might not be able to cool the world down again after overshooting the 1.5°C warming limit – and even if we can, a lot of irreversible damage will have been done

In Washington, Department of Energy (DOE) last week released the 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23), which shows that the U.S. could sustainably triple its production of biomass to more than 1 billion tons per year. The report—the fourth in a series of assessments of potential biomass resources in the United States since 2005—finds that 1 billion […]

Sustainable liquid biofuels are needed to reduce the carbon footprint of fossil fuel-powered planes, ships, trucks and cars. Grass feedstock has shown promise in biofuel labs, but commercial scaling up may be an insurmountable hurdle.

Searches for sustainable bioenergy and climate change solutions may be one in the same, according to a West Virginia University researcher.

For the first time, researchers have successfully demonstrated precision gene editing in miscanthus, a promising perennial crop for sustainable bioenergy production.

Earth's carbon cycle works on a global scale. But it can be affected by the tiniest of organisms: soil microbes. These microbes decompose organic matter like plant litter and dead organisms, and create simple carbon compounds. These simple carbon compounds can then be used by other organisms, or turned into gases (like carbon dioxide) and released into the atmosphere.

Biofuels are being promoted as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels as they could help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the related climate change impact from transport. However, there are also concerns that their wider deployment could ...

In India, The Economic Times reports in an ambitious bid to curb carbon emissions, India's government has announced plans to blend 5% ethanol into diesel, a shift that could shake up both the energy sector and environmental efforts. This initiative, part of a broader strategy to reduce dependence on imported crude oil, aims to integrate […]

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have demonstrated a new way to produce a critical component of aviation fuel from lignin, a plant material that's generally discarded as waste during biomass processing. If samples of the new product pass a final test for jet-fuel certification, the result could be aviation fuel that's made entirely from sustainable sources.

Michigan State University researchers have solved a puzzle that could help switchgrass realize its full potential as a low-cost, sustainable biofuel crop and curb our dependence on fossil fuels.

Biomass waste from forest treatment projects could be converted into valuable commodities that help pay for costly wildfire prevention efforts.