We know we need biofuels and biomass to replace fossil fuels
in the long term, however, it has proved an uneconomic process except where
food crops such as sugar cane and corn are used.
Basically, using food crops is a terrible idea because we
are facing a massive increase in global population over the next 35 years (over 2
billion more souls) and we are going to need all the arable farmland we have.
Consequently, there has been a growing effort to find plants
or make plants that are more amenable to processing into biofuels. These non-food crop type biofuels are called second generation biofuels.
A recent study published in Science (see doi.org/r6s
for full transcript) has me smiling.
A group of researchers has found a way to modify lignin in
poplar trees to make them less energy intensive to process into biofuel. Lignin is the what makes wood strong, and the
more lignin a plant has the more durable it is, also meaning it takes longer to
breakdown or degrade. The problem with this in an industrial process is that it
takes too much time and energy to break down the lignin, rendering many fast
growing, high lignin content plants uneconomic for biofuels.
By adding an enzyme from another plant that has a lignin
that is more digestible, this GM poplar should lower the costs of producing biofuels.
The researchers themselves admit that this isn’t economic
yet, but this is a great step forward.
I am a huge fan of Genetic Modification and its potential
role in our energy future. Bring on the FrankenPlants for a sustainable future.
P.S. I’m still waiting to hear from anyone looking to make
GM coral (as I mentioned in a prior blog). Accelerating the formation of
limestone or even making our own concrete from GM Coral will help sequester CO2
– pretty close to permanently.
Note: I work as a project and energy economist with companies and governments on geosequestration,wind, geothermal, hydro, wave, transmission networks, coal seam gas, coal,and more. The views expressed in this blog are solely my own and do not represent the views of any organisation that I do work for.
