By Tina Casey •
September 30, 2009
With the attention on first generation corn ethanol fading, the next big thing on the sustainable fuel horizon is nonfood biofuel crops. Within that category, inedible weeds are taking a front-row seat due to their relatively low demands on water, pesticides, and herbicides, and their reduced need for tilling and other mechanized soil prep. Some weeds with biofuel potential can also thrive on contaminated soils, absorbing and cleaning pollutants in a process called phytoremediation.
By Tina Casey •
May 16, 2009
The lowly cattail is emerging as the weapon of choice against water contamination, and perhaps even global warming. In addition to its use in large phytoremediation projects to absorb contamination from groundwater and wetlands, the cattail could also work in on a small, inexpensive scale, helping to reduce arsenic contamination in impoverished areas. All this and biofuel, too?
Researchers want to produce biodiesel at the coast. Building on last week’s post, University of Delaware researchers are interested in developing a type of mallow, the seashore mallow, for biodiesel and ethanol production:
And unlike soybeans and corn, which require annual plantings on valuable farmland to feed the growing appetite for biofuels, the pink-flowered seashore mallow is both a perennial and a halophyte, or
[...]
What if you could use plants to turn industrial waste sites into fertile, productive cropland? Better yet, what if you could produce biofuels in the process? By marrying bio-remediation and crop production, a group of Carnegie Mellon University graduates hopes to do just that: produce biodiesel and ethanol on reclaimed land.
"It’s a proven technology, but in an unproven environment," said Mr. Butcher, 27. "The idea of growing energy crops is
[...]
