While consumers are lately hearing a lot about corn-based ethanol, a group of scientists are advocating  the  use of  Lesquerella—a member of mustard family as a paint, biodiesel additive and lubricant. Lesquerella grows naturally in arid and semi-arid landscapes and is native to areas in the southwest United States and Mexico. The plant produces seeds that are slightly smaller than alfalfa, but hold a powerful resource: a unique vegetable oil rich in hydroxy fatty acids. The group collected seeds from native populations across the US and Mexico and developed new breeding lines to increase hydroxy fatty acids and oil content.

According to a study released recently by Forest2Market, emerging biomass markets will significantly strengthen the demand for wood fiber in the US south, driving the prices of  forest products higher. The demand will be fueled by wood-burning power companies. The development of new facilities that turn biomass into cellulosic ethanol for transportation fuel will also impact the forest products industry. As a result, the report predicts, demand for wood fiber from these emerging markets is expected to climb from 2 million tons in 2008 to at least 13.5 million tons in 2020. However, the estimate is conservative, and it could be adjusted higher as more companies announce plans to build biomass facilities. The new study, 'Quantifying Forest Biomass Resources in the US South,' is the first to analyze the impact of bioenergy markets on the forest products industry.

A Massey research project to commercially develop sustainable, carbon-neutral biofuel from slimy green algae to ultimately replace petrol-based fuels has received a funding boost from a Finnish oil refining company. According to the Neste Oil Corporation, a major oil refiner in Finland, the company has agreed to fund the study because of environmental concerns emerging from the use of petroleum. Neste is attempting to move to renewable feedstocks for making diesel fuel and using micro-algal oils for making biofuels in  preference  to using vegetable oils, says a company representative. Although bio-fuel and bio-diesel made from agricultural crops such as palm and soybean oil and sugarcane have so far attracted the most attention as alternatives to fossil fuels, none of these “come close to micro-algae in being able to sustainably provide the necessary amounts of bio-diesel.”

According The researchers are studying whether a gene from a tropical "diesel tree" can be cloned into other plants for mass production of biofuel. The researchers plan to clone genes from the copaiba tree which produces oleoresin, a compound with similar properties as diesel fuel.
They plan to clone the genes from the tree and re-cultivate them in algae, weeds and non-crop native Colorado plants. At present they are using Arabidopsis as a model plant in the lab because of its similarity to other non-crop plants. Researchers say it will take about a year of testing to determine whether the cloning is possible. The second step would involve studying the economic viability of the biodiesel.  

Airlines to power planes with biodiesel

Air New Zealand will trial fly a jumbo jet partly powered by oil from jatropha curcus. The world’s first trial flight of  a Boeing 747- 400 partly on biodiesel from jatropha is part of the airline's ambitious plan to have 10 per cent of its fleet operating on hybrid fuels within five years. Other airlines are looking at biofuels, both to cut oil costs and to reduce  emissions as carbon trading schemes come into force. Virgin Atlantic, as well as Air New Zealand, are also looking to using algae as a fuel source, while Qantas said biofuel development was being fast-tracked. 

US taking the lead in global biofuel production

Air “US Biofuel Market Analysis”, a new research report from RNCOS, anticipates the US that biofuel industry, particularly ethanol production, will lead the world biofuel production during 2008-2017. As per the report, the US has emerged as the world’s largest biofuel industry, with its ethanol production soaring to 4.9 billion gallons in the year 2006, an increase of around one billion gallons from production levels in 2005, contributing 36% of the total global ethanol production. While the growth in ethanol production was substantially high in 2006 compared to 2005, the industry still continues to enhance its production capacity. The RNCOS research says that this radical rise in ethanol production in the US has virtually affected every aspect of field crops sector - from domestic demand and exports to prices, acreage allocation among crops, and even the livestock sector.  This fallout on the  commodity markets has impacted everything including government payments, farm income and food prices.