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Biomass research projects awarded

The USDA and Department of Energy are funding 10 new research projects into the genomics of biomass. In the Midwest, projects are being funding at the University of Illinois, University of Missouri and the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

The genetic properties of Miscanthus as a bioenergy crop will be studied at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Miscanthus is a promising cellulosic biofuel crop.

In addition, a five-thousand-dollar grant from British Petroleum to study the engineering properties of biomass has been awarded to five students at the Urbana-Champaign campus. The students are working on a virtual database to tell end users the properties of different energy crop types – from sorghum to Miscanthus, to switchgrass. Their various values for energy production will be part of the equation.

Professor Luis Rodriguez with U of I’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering is working closely with the students on the project. He says not much is known about harvesting, transporting or storing biomass and the students’ project will help determine how efficiently it can be processed.

The genomics of sweet sorghum stems will be studied at the University of Missouri while the lighting for a specific grass species will be studied at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis for targeted breeding or engineering for improved bioenergy grass crops.

Some of the other USDA/DOE –funded projects include the study of switchgrass at the University of Oklahoma, of energy-cane at the University of Florida and, sorghum research at Kansas State and the University of South Carolina.