ASPB Members Pioneer Biofuel Research Projects

Members of ASPB (American Society of Plant Biologists) are currently helping towards solving the country’s energy challenges by way of fundamental research in the field of biofuels.

All nine awards towards Plant Feedstocks Genomics for Bioenergy that were announced recently by the U.S. DOE (Department of Energy) as well as the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) were provided to projects that had members of ASPB as crucial research personnel.

This research program conducted by the DOE/USDA supports basic genomics investigations towards enhancing the usage of plants as the potential fuel sources. Each of these projects will be exploring ways for using the lignocellulosic biomass for producing biofuels. The projects that have been funded during this year will be aiming to enhance the sustainability, water utilization, nutrient usage, yield and productivity of plants as biofuel sources.

For meeting these goals, researchers will be seeking to improve the fundamental understanding of the manner in which plants are structured as well as how they go on to take up and utilize nutrients along with the impacts created by water and temperature. An $8.9-million overall funding has already been awarded for the nine research teams involved.