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Sept 11, 2008 | Cymraeg

Plant Power: Fuel For The Future

A Liverpool bus, could run for a whole year on grass-derived ethanol grown on 11 hectares of grass will be the message of an Aberystwyth scientist at this year's BA Festival of Science based in Liverpool from 6-11th September.

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"Power from plants can be part of the solution required to mitigate climate change but needs to be developed in such a way that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, and in addition to providing food, plants are also used for feed, fibre and fuel," says Dr. Iain Donnison who leads the Bioenergy and Biorenewables Programme at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), in Aberystwyth University.

Drawing upon current research at IBERS, Iain Donnison will state that non-food plant material can provide fuel for the future and that his comments should not be viewed as a "load of hot air".

Plants can be used to make transport fuels and supply a range of platform chemicals used in plastics, coatings and cosmetics.

"Climate change and global economic and demographic factors present new challenges for food and fuel security. Electricity and heat can be produced by a range of renewable energy technologies but biomass from plants is unique in being able to directly replace oil for transport and chemicals."

IBERS, in collaboration with a range of partners, is looking at the feasibility of using dedicated non-food energy crops such as Miscanthus and also perennial ryegrass, a species grown widely as grazing for farm animals, for ethanol production. This could be a potential new source of income for farmers, without causing conflict with the food industry.

"We need to increase the use of renewables as part of a package of measures, including reducing carbon footprints to combat climate change, and cope with increased global demand for food as a result of increasing population size, changes in patterns of diet, industrialisation and urbanisation."

Dr Donnison is convinced that bioenergy crops can help to meet ambitious targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions and suggests that, in the greater part of the UK, that could mean focusing on traditional grassland areas.

"We can never be fully dependent on energy crops in the UK as a source of transport fuel because of the potential impact on food production. But whilst current renewable ethanol involves fermenting starch from crops such as wheat and maize, perennial grasses would be a better option for the UK because they can be grown on land that’s unsuitable for other crops and so do not tie up areas that are needed for primary food production or animal feed production."

Researchers at IBERS are focusing on high yielding tall grasses such as Miscanthus and also high-sugar varieties of ryegrass as high yielding raw materials for fermentation. Fermentation products sought by the team include ethanol but also lactic acid and succinic acid, both of which have a number of important roles in the chemicals industry.

Lactic acid is used directly in foods, drinks and the textile industry, and also as a source of derivatives such as polylactide, a plastic used in food packaging and other applications. Succinic acid, another versatile product, is involved in the production of a range of materials from detergents to surface coatings. The annual market for lactic acid is approximately £120 million worldwide and significant growth is expected in the future.

"With climate change high on the agenda, we think it's essential to search for cheap and renewable sources of chemicals that have traditionally come from the oil industry."

Further Information:

Emma Shipman, Publicity and Events Officer, IBERS Business Office, Aberystwyth University 01970 823002 / eos[AT]aber.ac.uk

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