Biotech Updates

Research Center to Develop Biofuels from Crambe

February 27, 2009
http://www.undeerc.org/news/newsitem.aspx?id=331
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/crambe-one-more-plant-turned-into-biofuels.php

The Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota (United States) has received a research grant amounting to US$1 million "to evaluate renewable oil refining technologies for commercial production of diesel, jet, and other fuels and chemicals from North Dakota oilseed crops." One of the viable North Dakota crops that is being considered for biofuel development is a drought tolerant plant called "crambe" (Crambe abyssinica) which produces a non-edible oil. The project (in collaboration with the Tesoro Company) is funded by the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) and the United States Department of Defense. Crambe oil can be considered a "second generation biofuel feedstock" because it is not food-based feedstock, and it also requires very little agricultural inputs (i.e., water, fertilizer) for cultivation.

Related information on Crambe:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/crambe.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crambe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crambe_oil