Problematic weed could be valuable new source of biofuel

Saturday, November 20, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: pennycress, biofuels, health news

(NaturalNews) Researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research may have come up with a viable new solution for a highly problematic weed. The pennycress plant, which comes from the same family as the canola plant, produces high quantities of an oil that scientists say has excellent potential for use as a biodiesel fuel.

According to the Peoria, Ill.-based research team that conducted the study, pennycress seeds contain a type of oil that, when refined, works very well as a biofuel. And since pennycress plants yield large amounts of these oil-rich seeds, they could prove to be a highly valuable source of fuel that works especially well in colder climates.

Pennycress seeds contain between 26 and 36 percent oil, depending on the source of research, which is roughly the equivalent of what canola plants yield. Pennycress oil also contains 40 percent euric acid, which works very well in biodiesel applications. And after being treated and refined, pennycress-derived biofuel remains viable at temperatures much lower than that of many other biodiesel fuels.

Prior to the discovery, pennycress was primarily viewed as a nuisance weed because of its tendency to pop up on roadsides and in crop fields through the Midwest. But now the weed could become a lucrative commercial commodity, potentially replacing other controversial biofuels derived from food sources like corn and soy. So to many, the concept is a win-win situation.

"It's off season from corn and soybeans, has high seed yield and high oil," explained Terry Isbell, lead researcher of the study, to the magazine Biodiesel. And because pennycress can be grown throughout the winter and harvested in the springtime, it works perfectly for farmers who grow other crops during the main growing seasons.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11...

http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp...

http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/g...