As countries try to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and slow climate change, scientists see biofuels as a partial answer.
As countries try to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and slow climate change, scientists see biofuels as a partial answer. Made from plants or biowaste, these energy-dense chemicals offer a sustainable solution to petrochemicals, which remain important in transportation and the plastics industry, among others.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are helping produce oleochemicals from oilseed crops to help meet escalating demand for renewable fuels, industrial chemicals and other byproducts. The Fox Group, led by Jerome Fox, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at CU Boulder, was awarded $1.1 million of a five-year, $12.8 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, which involves seven universities and institutions and paves the way for broader use of non-food oilseed crops in the chemical industry.
The team, led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will produce genetically enhanced oilseeds, establish the “rules” of oilseeds’ metabolic circuitry and develop synthetic biology tools for crop improvement that could ultimately help scientists across the country.
Read More: University of Colorado Boulder
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