Download Bioengineering trees and non-food plants for biofuel feedstock

Tamarix
Bioengineering Trees and Non-Food
Plants for Biofuel Feedstock
Kenaf
BIOMASS
Any organic matter which is
available on a renewable
basis including forest
residues, agricultural crops
and wastes, wood and
wood wastes, animal
wastes, livestock operation
residue, aquatic plants and
municipal wastes (USDOE)
Agricultural Biomass
Forest Residue Biomass
Wood Residue
Wood residues
are renewable
resources that
can be use for
energy reducing
the dependency
on nonrenewable
resources (i.e.,
coal, petroleum)
Unlike NON-RENEWABLE
natural resources…
RENEWABLES, once used,
can be replaced in a relatively
short period of time or even
used continuously without
depleting the resource.
HIGH Heat Values Trees
Osage-Orange
Hickories
Dogwood
Persimmon
White oak
Red oak
White ash
American beech
MODERATE Heat Values
Trees
American holly
Green ash
Black walnut
Sweetgum
Black cherry
Sassafras
Eastern redcedar
Baldcypress
LOW Heat Values Trees
Yellow-poplar
Black willow
Eastern white pine
Eastern
cottonwood
Red alder
Large-tooth aspen
Weeping willow
Biomass/Biofuel
Plantations
Short-rotation
woody crop
Hibiscus cannabinus
Perennial energy
crop
Switchgrass
BIOENERGY
The conversion of the complex
carbohydrates in organic matter
into energy, either by using it
directly as a fuel or by processing
it into liquids and gasses that are
more efficient.
’Bioenergy’ is really the
result of taking organic
matter/renewable natural
resources and changing
this substance into a fuel
source or a Biofuel.
BIOFUEL
• Transportation
• Heating
Transportation
• Ethanol = produced from corn,
trees or other cellulosic material
• Methane = captured from landfills
and agricultural livestock
facilities
• Biodiesel = created from soybean
oil, yellow grease, etc.
Heating
• Wood … fireplace, pellet stove
• Biodiesel … home heating oils
(during the 1870’s, wood was the
dominate form of domestic
energy…then coal and petroleum
became easier and cheaper to use for
this purpose)
Methods of obtaining
BIOFUELS
DIRECT
COMBUSTION
Where plant fiber is broken
down and ignited to generate
steam heat
BIOCHEMICAL
• Anaerobic digestion =
fermentation in absence of O2 to
produce biogas
• Fermentation = using enzymes
and yeast
… for BIOENERGY
options to be utilized,
they must first be
manufactured and made
available at a cost
competitive/market price
Coordinated by
Yoav Waise
Amram Eshel
Aviah Zilberstein
Department of Plant Sciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
Tel Aviv University
Tamarix aphylla
Support: Italy-Israel cooperation in R. & D.
Tamarix aphylla
A native salt resistant tree
Cutting planted at
experimental site
in Northern Negev
April 2004
Tamarix aphylla
Sampling 4 m tall
Trees, January 2006
20 months after planting
Planted
cuttings
January 2006
5 months after planting
10 months after planting
20 months after planting
Tree productivity average ~15 t/ha/y organic matter
Kenaf a non food multi-purpose crop
plants with elevated fiber content
Roni Aloni
Jonathan Dayan
Adi Avni
Department of Plant Sciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
Tel Aviv University
Support: Horowitz foundation, RAMOT
Kenaf: nonwoody alternative
source of paper pulp
Kenaf = Hibiscus cannabinus
Drought resistant annual
Grows 5 m in 5 mo.
Requires few or no herbicides or
pesticides
Use whole plant
Plant Hormones and Growth
Gibberellin stimulating cell division and elongation,
induction germination, fruit setting and growth .
Green Revolution
Gibberellin
Biosynthesis
GA-20 Oxidase – rate
limiting enzyme
GA-20 Oxidase
GA-2 Oxidase
GA-2 Oxidase –
deactivating enzyme
pipic
huge fruit
© Sylvan Wittwer / Visuals Unlimited
Active
Inactive
Wild type
Arabidopsis
• GA-20 Oxidase overexpression
– Thicker and elongated
inflorescence axis.
– Faster growth.
• GA-2 Oxidase silencing
– Similar to above.
Fiber cell in silenced GA 2 oxidase
plants
Bark
Bark
Transgenic tobacco GA2 oxidase silenced
plants
GA 2-oxidase
Silenced
Wild type
In Conclusion
producing
BIOMASS
… is a VALUABLE
Bio-energy fuel!