Sunflowers are already used for oil production and to make biodiesel’ now scientists want to look into their viability as ethanol.

Over the next few years, University of Georgia scholar Steve Knapp will study silverleaf and Algodones dune sunflowers. The species have the ability to produce significant amounts of cellulosic biomass, which can be converted into ethanol.

But both the silverleaf and Algodones dune sunflowers are wild species, and domestication takes time. Knapp plans to tackle the problem by studying each of the sunflower’s 40,000 to 50,000 genes to determine what they control in the plant.

Whether or not the sunflowers emerges as a serious contender in the ethanol race remains to be seen, but its commercial use could easily provide some extra income to Georgia farmers. More.

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Sunflowers are already used for oil production and to make biodiesel’ now scientists want to look into their viability as ethanol.

Over the next few years, University of Georgia scholar Steve Knapp will study silverleaf and Algodones dune sunflowers. The species have the ability to produce significant amounts of cellulosic biomass, which can be converted into ethanol.

But both the silverleaf and Algodones dune sunflowers are wild species, and domestication takes time. Knapp plans to tackle the problem by studying each of the sunflower’s 40,000 to 50,000 genes to determine what they control in the plant.

Whether or not the sunflowers emerges as a serious contender in the ethanol race remains to be seen, but its commercial use could easily provide some extra income to Georgia farmers. More.

Related posts:

1. Turning Sunflowers into fuel
2. Coors donates 400 beer-fueled cars to the Democratic National Convention
3. Coors donates 400 beer-fueled cars to the Democratic National Convention