Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sunflowers wouldn't be a bad biofuel crop




Sunflowers, according to the article, could be a food AND biofuel crop. Not a bad way to go -- because in addition to being practical, a sunflower field is kind of pretty.



Sunflowers could provide food and fuel


Once the genetic makeup is known, sunflower species could be crossbred to produce a plant that grows up to 15 feet tall with stalks up to 4 inches in diameter while producing high-quality seeds, said project leader Loren Rieseberg of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

"The seeds would be harvested for food and oil, while the stalks would be utilized for wood or converted to ethanol," Rieseberg said. "As a dual-use crop it wouldn't be in competition with food crops for land."


And I didn't realize the sunflower plant family has around 24,000 species.

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