Weeds Could Help Lower Gas Prices
Weeds growing in Colorado. July 22, 2008.
By TAMMY VIGIL, Reporter
DENVER (MyFOXColorado.com) - A University of Northern Colorado professor sees weeds as the next frontier of fuel production.
And now Dr. Chhandak Basu is getting support from the state with a grant worth nearly $100,000. The Colorado Office of Economic Development And International Trade gave him $49,643 and UNC matched it.
"Everywhere we see crisis because of fuel prices," says Basu. So he says it is crucial to find an alternative.
He took a trip to Puerto Rico where he took genetic material from the copaiba or "diesel tree" which exudes a biofuel sap. Now, he's trying to figure out what causes the tropical tree to produce the biofuel that is already used to run automobiles--but in small numbers.
"We're trying to pinpoint the gene or genes which are responsible for production of this compound called oleoresin," he says.
Then, he'll clone those genes and transfer them into algae and native Colorado plants called Arabidopsis or weeds.
"They grow without fertilizer, water, without any care from humans, Basu says about weeds. "You don't take care of them. They grow anyway. You don't want them. They come back in your backyard."
And unlike the diesel tree, weeds can continuously produce biofuel. The tree takes 14 years to grow and months to regenerate sap, once it's taken from the tree.
Also, since weeds are not a food crop, he says, they won't create food shortage problems, like corn did with ethanol.
"The idea is the plants would be used as biofactories for the production of biodiesel," he says.
This would offer a cheaper alternative to rising gas prices and and lessening our dependence on foreign oil, he says.
Basu hopes to have these genetically-modified plants ready to go in about a year. He's hoping he receives more government funding so he can genotype the copaiba tree. |
