Bid to develop high-yield poplar biofuel crops

March 2, 2010

The Maryland researchers believe the poplar could rival corn as an ethanol feedstock

Researchers at the University of Maryland are working to produce high-yield energy crops out of popular trees in a $3.2 million, four-year study.

Along with colleagues at Bowie State University, they hope to produce hybrid varieties of the tree that could be grown on plantations without affecting existing woodland, and used to produce ethanol.

The project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Plant Genome Research Project.

The researchers will make use of the recently completed genome of the poplar tree, looking for ways to improve the tree’s growth rates, and hence feasibility in fuel production.

They believe the poplar, which is also known as cottonwood or aspen and already commonly used in paper and timber production, could be developed to rival corn as a feedstock for biofuels, suggesting corn “may not be the best solution”.

Ganesh Sriram, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Maryland, said: “We need to develop an alternative crop that we use exclusively for biofuels and not food.

“What we want are trees like poplar that grow fast and efficiently so they can become the raw material for cellulosic [fiber-based] biofuel. The carbon found in poplar could be converted into fuels just like the sugars we extract from corn.”

Nitrogen

In particular, the team’s studies will look at the different genes within the poplar that control its storage of nitrogen, as extracted from the atmosphere.

“Both the growth in the spring and regrowth from roots after the stems are harvested depend on the availability of stored nitrogen,” said lead researcher and associate professor Gary Coleman of the University of Maryland’s plant science and landscape architecture department.

“The data we collect will allow us to understand mechanisms of nitrogen cycling, determine how to increase the rates of the cellular reactions, and identify the genes that play a crucial role in the process.

“Eventually, we should be able to breed a variety of poplar with a more efficient nitrogen process, optimized for growth and rapid maturity,” associate prof Coleman added.