Hybrid Trees for Ethanol

Purdue University is researching hybrid poplar trees as a potential source of ethanol. One of the (many) problems with ethanol as a bio-fuel is the inefficiency of using corn to create it. There isn’t even enough corn in Indiana to fuel Indiana (this should tell you something), so a more plentiful, efficient source has to be found.

Enter the poplar tree, which can grow to 90 feet in six years and with genetic modification could have cell properties more conducive to producing fuel. If the experiment succeeds, poplars could prove a huge gain over corn (1000 gallons of ethanol per acre and no maintenance vs 400 for corn which requires a lot of attention).

The researchers optimistically predict that if the hybrids were planted on all the unused farm land in the US, the ethanol generated would replace 80% of US fossil fuels consumed for transportation.