Using the stalk of the corn plant instead of the kernels could open up a limitless, renewable fuel supply.
Adding the enzyme to corn stalks, the researchers say, could allow easier conversion of the woody waste parts of the corn plant into ethanol.
The company planned to plant corn on territory larger than the state of Connecticut.
He hopes it is a good omen as he prepares to plant corn this spring.
He wanted us to plant corn everywhere and start production of chemical fertilizers.
Strobel envisions making mycodiesel the way ethanol is made, by implanting the improved dieselmaking genes from the fungus into yeast and then feeding it corn or other plant sugars.
Made from corn stalks, switchgrass and other plant waste, it has the advantage of not competing with the food supply and also boasts a superior energy balance than corn-based ethanol.
Fittingly, the plant is based in the corn country of Nebraska, on 20 acres of former cornfields outside the town of Blair.
Banc of America Securities analyst Kevin McCarthy said corn will get a lift as farmers plant more of it than other grains in the near-term.
That can be understood by comparing the land use needs of a nuclear plant with those of a wind energy project or a corn ethanol operation.
The family lives a life of rural self-sufficiency that makes the River Cottage look like a microprocessor plant, raising pigs, keeping bees and growing tomatoes, corn, figs, beans, apples, medlars and pears.
And if we use their biomass directly and not just the seed - all we use are the seed of the corn - we use their biomass directly to make energy and to run the plant that makes the energy, we can have biofuels that are immensely better, that can give us 80 or 90 percent reductions in greenhouse gases compared to gasoline.
He helps produce about 60 varieties, starting with a dark green bud called "Mighty Mite, " a plant for urban window boxes that grows to the size and shape of a corn dog.
The results of the experiments, reported in the journal Science, show that the modified plant can thrive even when salt levels are twice the amount that would kill a normal crop of corn.
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