August 14, 2013

Seeking Biomass Feedstocks That Can Compete



Biofuels and biobased chemical makers hope to win with cellulosic sugars

On the hot, dry agricultural land of California’s Imperial Valley, 17 new varieties of an unusual crop are being tested on a 100-acre plot. If the tests are successful, the valley’s bounty of lettuce, cantaloupes, and broccoli may someday be joined by plants that are converted into fuels and chemicals.

The crop, energy cane, is a less sweet cousin of sugarcane. It is a perennial grass that was developed by plant scientists to create a large amount of biomass quickly. Canergy, a biofuels start-up, plans to grow enough energy cane to power one or more commercial-scale fuel ethanol plants starting in 2016.