Making leaves better for energy

tobacco by ellievanhoutte
Engineered tobacco plants have more potential as a biofuel:
[Via EurekAlert! – Biology]

(Thomas Jefferson University) Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the plants for biofuel. Their paper was published online in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

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I wrote a bit ago about using tobacco seeds for fuel. Here, they make the leaves a better source. They doubled the amount of oils that are in the leaves, making the plats much more suitable as a source for biofuels.

It would be pretty ironic if the tobacco industry came to our energy rescue.

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