Poplar to Replace Corn as a Biofuel Crop in the Future

Biofuel is fuel derived from biomass, while bioethanol is ethanol derived from sugar and starch crops through the fermentation of their sugar components. Cellulosic biomass such as grass and trees can also be used for bioethanol production. Bioethanol is the most commonly used biofuel worldwide. In 2008, nearly 2% of the world’s transport fuel was provided by biofuels and this number keeps growing.

Currently the crop of choice for biofuel production, especially in the United States is corn. This is certainly not the best idea available and we have already dealt with this issue here before. What we need is a dedicated energy crop that isn’t used as food.

That’s where Poplar comes into play…

Poplar (also known as cottonwood or aspen) is a tree that is currently cultivated for the production of paper and also for its timber value.

In a study…

Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Plant Genome Research Project with a $3.2 million grant, researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park, and Bowie State University have uncovered the special potential of Poplar as a high-yield crop for biofuel production!

Poplar trees grow fast and they can function as raw material for cellulosic-fuel production. Like the sugars derived from corn, the carbon in Poplar can also be converted into fuel.

Is there anything we can do about the efficiency?

There certainly is and that’s what the researchers are concentrating their efforts on now.

If the growth cycle of Poplar can be improved and made more efficient, there is a lot that Poplar can do to contribute to the development of a renewable and sustainable energy system.

How can the efficiency be improved?

Plants need nitrogen as it is an important factor in their growth and productivity. The research team is now working on understanding how Poplar stores and cycles nitrogen. Therefore by genetically improving the plant’s nitrogen processing capability, more productivity and rapid growth rates can be achieved.

Advantages of using Poplar as an energy crop?

1. The plant can be grown on plantations and then harvested without affecting existing woodlands and farmlands
2. Poplar can extract nitrogen from its leaves, store it through winter and then redistribute it in spring. Thus expensive nitrogen fertilizer need not be applied year round.
3. Poplar has the amazing ability to regrow from its roots after being cut. As a result, once planted, a tree is good enough for several growth cycles before needing replacement and this increases the feasibility of the process enormously.
4. Finally and perhaps most importantly, Poplar isn’t a food crop and this eliminates most of the difficulties we faced with corn.

via: University of Maryland