Biofuels
Across the globe, a growing interest in renewable energy has led scientists to investigate a variety of energy crops and materials to convert into biofuels. A biofuel can be made from plants or from agricultural, commercial, domestic, or industrial waste. Ideally, crops grown for biofuels are low-cost, low-maintenance products used expressly for energy.
MSU scientists developed and patented a variety of giant miscanthus used to create gasoline. They have also investigated the biofuels potential of numerous other materials available in Mississippi, such as short-rotation wood crops, waste from timber harvesting, manure, grain crops, crop residue, switchgrass, and algae.
Publications
News
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Using fast-growing woody crops as a source of energy and fuel may be the key to energy independence in the United States.
The latest Southeastern biofuels research and production methods will be on display for landowners, industry professionals and community leaders during a month-long series of field days in September sponsored by the Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems.
STONEVILLE – Energy beets could be the answer to Mississippi farmers’ quest for off-season income and provide an alternative energy source for the nation’s expanding biofuels markets.
Mississippi State University researchers and Extension agents are examining the growth and profit potential for varieties of energy beets, a nonedible relative of sugarbeets used only in biofuel production.
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant is funding research at Mississippi State University that will help develop a process to create a clean, renewable energy source.
Researchers at MSU and Ohio State University received $6.5 million to work together on the project. They plan to develop a process to convert methane gases produced from leftover plant materials, or biomass, into cost competitive liquid fuels that more closely resemble diesel and gasoline.
MISSISSIPPI STATE – A team of Mississippi State University agricultural economists recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study policies impacting biofuel supply chains.
MISSISSIPPI STATE – A variety of grass developed at Mississippi State University is getting its moment in the sun as a biofuel ingredient, thanks to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement.
Freedom giant miscanthus, developed by Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researcher Brian Baldwin and his colleagues, was selected as the crop of choice for one of two new Biomass Crop Assistance Program projects. BCAP funds help offset the expenses of planting renewable energy crops that can require several years to mature to the point of harvest.
