CSU awarded $1.5M to develop new crop of biofuels on marginal lands

By: InnovatioNews Monday July 28, 2014 0 comments Tags: biofuels, CSU, Fort Collins, John McKay

 

FORT COLLINS - Colorado State University Bioagricultural Sciences Associate Professor John McKay has been awarded nearly $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a new crop of biofuels, CSU announced.

McKay and his research team will focus on the plant species Camelina sativa, an oilseed feedstock crop that can be grown on less-than-ideal farmland with relatively low fertilizer inputs and limited irrigation.

Leveraging the newly available genome sequence of Camelina, the project will use forward and reverse genetics and natural variation to combine optimal qualities in Camelina as an oilseed feedstock for the Great Plains and western U.S., CSU said.

The grant was awarded by a joint DOE-U.S. Department of Agriculture program that began in 2006 focusing on fundamental investigations of biomass genomics with the aim of harnessing nonfood plant biomass to produce fuels such as ethanol or renewable chemical feedstocks.

A total of $12.6 million was awarded to researchers working on 10 projects in Colorado, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and Texas.