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Researchers have second-generation biofuels in the works
(21/05/2008)
The European research programme EnergyPoplar (Enhancing Poplar Traits for Energy Applications), coordinated by Francis Martin, INRA-Nancy research director, was launched at a meeting held in Champenoux last 15-16 May 2008. |
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After the ANR VégA foresight workshop, which was organised to identify plant species and production systems that meet the demands of new forms of energy and chemistry, this meeting is yet another manifestation of INRA's involvement, along with its partners, in research aimed at achieving environmental and economic sustainability.
A question of generations
Thought until recently to be the miracle cure for the planet's energy problems, first-generation biofuels are now being called into question, accused of reducing the amount of farmland, poor profitability, and bringing about monocultural landscapes. In contrast, so-called second-generation biofuels, derived from woody plants (mostly trees) or agricultural residues, are more likely to preserve the environment and food production.
Woody plants are made up of three main components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which combine to form wood and form the tree's "skeleton", allowing it to grow in height. Ethanol can be collected when cellulose is transformed in a process called saccharification. For energy, as for paper pulp, trees with more cellulose and less lignin (whose processing creates pollution) are desired. The ability of woody plants to store atmospheric carbon is another plus.
Poplars at the forefront
Poplars are the perfect candidate for this purpose. They grow rapidly on land that is hardly, if ever, optimised by agriculture, and have a great capacity for absorbing nitrates and phosphates, which helps cleanse the soil.
Easy to propagate through plant multiplication, poplars grow in the wild or are cultivated in more than 70 million hectares the world over.
Finally, the poplar is the first tree to have its genome fully sequenced. Data from the genome sequencing and annotation programme - of which the INRA-UHP Tree-Microbe Interactions joint research unit was a participant - will make it possible to optimise the structure of wood for biofuel production.
Accelerated methods
The group's objective is to produce poplars whose wood is suitable for high biomass production – that is, with a larger proportion of cellulose - in a low-input cultivation system, in order to amass a stock of cellulose for bioethanol production. To "break" the cell walls that make up wood and analyse their rebuilding, scientists needed to decipher the complex mechanisms behind their formation, and come up with molecular markers that would allow genetic improvements to be made at a much faster rate than traditional methods. The selection of the first bioenergetic poplars could take only 4 to 5 years instead of the usual 10 to 20.
Researchers will also try to understand the conditions that lead to growth of tension wood, which naturally has a high level of cellulose.
Partners
For this complex research to be successful, a network bringing together different skills in genetic improvement, ecology, tree ecophysiology, biochemistry of wood, chemistry, genomic and molecular biology was created. Its members thus met for the first time in Champenoux under the aegis of Francis Martin, director of the Tree-Microbe Interactions joint research unit and project coordinator.
1. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique INRA France.
2. Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet SLU Sweden
3. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg ALU Germany
4. Flanders Institute for Biotechnology VIB Belgium
5. University of Southampton SOTON UK
6. Istituto di Genomica Applicata IGA Italy
7. Georg-August Universität Göttingen UGOE Germany
8. SwETree Technokogies AB STT Sweden
9. Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Imperial UK
10. INRA Transfert IT France
INRA, C. Maitre
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Written by :
Communications Department
Contacts :
Francis Martin, INRA/UHP Joint Research Unit for Tree-Microbe Interactions, INRA Research Centre of Nancy, Tel : 33 (0) 3 83 39 40 80 fmartin@nancy.inra.fr
Department :
Forest, Grassland and Freshwater Ecology
Label for the news :
Research example
Date of creation : 16/06/2008
Date of last update : 23/03/2009
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