Researchers Work to Fill Biofuel Gap
by Ashley Bray (Minnesota Daily) The University (of Minnesota)’s Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering is working to develop sustainable, domestic biomass solutions.
…The University’s Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering — a division of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and an affiliate of the newly renamed College of Science and Engineering — is working to establish itself as a prominent leader in developing sustainable, domestic biomass solutions.
The United States is a petroleum-based economy, but as petroleum becomes more expensive and global supplies dwindle, the government has started transitioning the country to a bio-based economy, BBE professor and department head Shri Ramaswamy said.
It’s a transition that BBE has dubbed the “bio-based revolution.”
…Breaking away from corn-based ethanol may become a real option in the future, and BBE is looking to use nonfood biological resources like agricultural residues, forest residues and other biological resources to produce fuel instead of corn.
“We don’t want to compete with edible crops,” Ramaswamy said.
A variety of inedible corn that’s used solely for fuel production is “a very good first step in terms of developing the biofuels industry,” but other options should be considered in the future, Ramaswamy said. READ MORE
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