Future of Agriculture

Future of Agriculture: Cellulosic Biofuels (Part 1) with Dr. Robert Brown of the Bio Institute at Iowa State University

Future of Agriculture

This episode begins a three-part series on cellulosic ethanol and other cellulosic biofuels. 

What if we could take one of the most prolific, abundant, renewable, and sustainable items on the plant - Cellulose - and make fuel from it? 

Well, we can! Sounds fantastic, but there are, of course, challenges. It's expensive, the conversions aren't as great as we'd like them to be, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to improve the processes in order to make cellulosic biofuels a widespread reality. 

This is the first part of the three-part series where we explore these opportunities and challenges with cellulosic biofuels. Dr. Brown describes a future where farmers can produce biomass that is specifically bred to be processed into fuels that can go directly into an engine. This would, of course, take collaboration between seed companies, farmers, ethanol plants, and fuel manufacturers and retailers. 

 

Check out Dr. Brown's Bio Institute at Iowa State University

To learn more, pick up a copy of Dr. Brown's book "Why Are We Producing Biofuels?"

 

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