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Published on August 5th, 2008 | by Nick Chambers

23

Diesel-Producing Grass? Researcher Thinks it’s Possible


Imagine a grass crop, grown on marginal, non-food bearing land without pesticides or much fertilizer, that, when harvested, produces an oil that needs almost no processing to be substituted for diesel fuel.

Copaifera langsdorffii Copaiba Oleoresin Diesel Tree Grass Switchgrass Fuel

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Much attention has been given to producing ethanol from non-food crops like grasses, but the ability to produce something indistinguishable to diesel from grass could be a game-changer. It would require almost no infrastructure change and could fuel all of the existing long-haul trucks on the road without modification.

Chhandak Basu, a researcher at the University of Northern Colorado, has received a grant to study the feasibility of taking the oil-producing genes from the tropical copaiba tree, also known as the “diesel tree,” and inserting them into other types of plants, like grasses, to induce those plants to produce the diesel-like oleoresin.

“The agricultural aspects of oleoresin have been studied extensively, but not the molecular biology part, not the genes responsible for this type of synthesis,” Basu said.

Oleoresin has been known for a long time to be easily substituted for diesel fuel, and the copaiba tree produces copious amounts of these oleoresins — each tree producing 40 liters per year.

The problem is that trees grow relatively slowly and the copaiba tree requires a tropical environment to flourish. A wholesale shift of large portions of the tropics to growing monocultures of these trees could have a devastating effect on tropical habitats and global warming through deforestation.

To get around this, Mr. Basu suggests that genetically modifying other types of plants to do the same thing that copaiba trees do could be part of the solution to attaining energy independence.

“This can be a tool in the toolbox,” Basu said of his research. “There’s so much wealth in this country that we should find a homegrown solution to address energy concerns. And if I’m successful here, we can spread the technology to the developing nations.”

The whole idea of a grass that produces diesel fuel is pretty cool — enough so that I’m a bit skeptical. Right now it’s just an idea on paper, but after thinking it over, the basic concept seems feasible to me.

The real sticking point is not the actual genetic modification, but the potential for cross-contamination of other types of grasses and related plants through wind-blown pollen. Once that gene is out in the environment, there’s no getting it back into a contained state.

If this issue can be addressed, a whole host of other genetic modifications for increasing biofuel production from grasses could also be implemented in the future.

Source: UNCO press release

Posts Related to Fuel from Non-food Crops, Biodiesel and Genetic Modification:

Image Credits: Copaiba tree from Brazil’s Native Trees website. Switchgrass from author’s own collection. Diesel pump from swinginstan‘s Flickr photostream (used under a Creative Commons license).



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Not your traditional car guy.


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  • Jim

    Cattails can produce 2500 gals of ethanol a acre every year right now. Industrial Hemp the same

    Learn here http://peswiki.com/index.php/Review:Alcohol_can_be_a_Gas

  • Jim

    Cattails can produce 2500 gals of ethanol a acre every year right now. Industrial Hemp the same

    Learn here http://peswiki.com/index.php/Review:Alcohol_can_be_a_Gas

  • http://gas2.org Clayton B. Cornell

    Want to duke this out in the discussion forums?

    “Do Biofuels Suck?”

    http://discuss.greenoptions.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=622

  • http://gas2.org Clayton B. Cornell

    Want to duke this out in the discussion forums?

    “Do Biofuels Suck?”

    http://discuss.greenoptions.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=622

  • Greg

    This is not the first talk of gasoline from plants. Besides the ethanol being produced from corn there have been several independant scientists that have isolated a bacteria that breaks down organic matter (grass clippings and other types of things you would find in a compost pile) into the same types of carbon chains found in gasoline. With minor organic chemistry reactions this product can then be turned into useable fuel. One such scientist has in the works several plants that could produce up to 25% of our current yearly demand of oil per year (unfortinately I dont have a link to the articles where I read this information). Between all the alternate fuel innovations and biofuels being produced it is only a matter of time before the gas crisis bubble bursts.

  • Greg

    This is not the first talk of gasoline from plants. Besides the ethanol being produced from corn there have been several independant scientists that have isolated a bacteria that breaks down organic matter (grass clippings and other types of things you would find in a compost pile) into the same types of carbon chains found in gasoline. With minor organic chemistry reactions this product can then be turned into useable fuel. One such scientist has in the works several plants that could produce up to 25% of our current yearly demand of oil per year (unfortinately I dont have a link to the articles where I read this information). Between all the alternate fuel innovations and biofuels being produced it is only a matter of time before the gas crisis bubble bursts.

  • http://www.pacificrenewableenergy.com.au Jumanous

    nice theory, but that oil produced by that tree degrades in a month, and is generally crapola. Not to mention it can’t be used as diesel without processing or a mod to your car. (not necessarily a bad thing)

    Pongamia on the other hand produces highly stable oil (I have some from 6 years ago that is still perfect), produces up to 10,000 litres per hectare, and is up and running in 5-8 years (with the right stocks), and it goes for the next 100 years sequesting carbon at a huge rate (far greater than any rainforest), and it can be grown on crap land as it it a legume (no fertilizer required) and has a 10metre tap root. Maybe that would be worth modifying into a grass. But still, I think grass is a little unstable for marginal lands, unless huge amounts of irrigation is employed. And it would require fertilizer.

    As far as mono culture… 90% of Australia is mono culture, or bloody close to it. I don’t think the kangaroos care!

    http://www.pacificrenewableenergy.com.au

  • http://www.pacificrenewableenergy.com.au Jumanous

    nice theory, but that oil produced by that tree degrades in a month, and is generally crapola. Not to mention it can’t be used as diesel without processing or a mod to your car. (not necessarily a bad thing)

    Pongamia on the other hand produces highly stable oil (I have some from 6 years ago that is still perfect), produces up to 10,000 litres per hectare, and is up and running in 5-8 years (with the right stocks), and it goes for the next 100 years sequesting carbon at a huge rate (far greater than any rainforest), and it can be grown on crap land as it it a legume (no fertilizer required) and has a 10metre tap root. Maybe that would be worth modifying into a grass. But still, I think grass is a little unstable for marginal lands, unless huge amounts of irrigation is employed. And it would require fertilizer.

    As far as mono culture… 90% of Australia is mono culture, or bloody close to it. I don’t think the kangaroos care!

    http://www.pacificrenewableenergy.com.au

  • BillBob Bogus

    What happens when you have a good old California wild fire? Now instead of a field of grass burning, you have a field of diesel fuel. I guess you could gene splice in some halon?

  • BillBob Bogus

    What happens when you have a good old California wild fire? Now instead of a field of grass burning, you have a field of diesel fuel. I guess you could gene splice in some halon?

  • haichen

    I don’t think you take only one gene from a tree and put it into gras and ..wow.. there is gas. No, there’s probably a very complex biochemical pathway controled by a lot of genes. Maybe someone can do something like that, but I don’t think so.

  • haichen

    I don’t think you take only one gene from a tree and put it into gras and ..wow.. there is gas. No, there’s probably a very complex biochemical pathway controled by a lot of genes. Maybe someone can do something like that, but I don’t think so.

  • http://home.earthlink.net/~trolleyfan David Johnson

    Is it just me, or does fields and fields full of diesel filled grass seem…I don’t know…a bit of a fire hazard?

  • http://home.earthlink.net/~trolleyfan David Johnson

    Is it just me, or does fields and fields full of diesel filled grass seem…I don’t know…a bit of a fire hazard?

  • ivan

    Here is more detail on the Honge (pongamia) tree referred to upthread.

    http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/discovery/honge.html

    I’m guessing this tree would adapt well to the Southwestern U.S., and areas of Northeastern Brazil.

  • ivan

    Here is more detail on the Honge (pongamia) tree referred to upthread.

    http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/discovery/honge.html

    I’m guessing this tree would adapt well to the Southwestern U.S., and areas of Northeastern Brazil.

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    I find it funny how some Americans think they get most of their oil from the middle east.

  • http://www.clockout.org timekeeping software

    I find it funny how some Americans think they get most of their oil from the middle east.

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