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Designing Biomass Crops with Improved Calorific Content and Attributes for Burning: a UK Perspective

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Plant Biotechnology for Sustainable Production of Energy and Co-products

Part of the book series: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry ((AGRICULTURE,volume 66))

Abstract

Recently, there has been tremendous world-wide interest in dedicated energy crops as a source of renewable carbon neutral feed-stocks for the production of energy and heat by combustion processes. However, in order for the potential benefits of decreased greenhouse gas emissions and improved fuel security to be delivered, it will be essential for the cultivation of these crops to be achieved in a sustainable manner. In this chapter we identify those species with greatest potential for cultivation in the UK, explore the effect of biomass chemical composition on combustion efficiency and, with particular focus on Miscanthus species, discuss how these crops may be best improved by strategies including genetic engineering, gene discovery and breeding strategies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the help of Dr. Paul Robson, and their colleagues at IBERS who are associated with or belong to the Miscanthus breeding programme, who were instrumental in growing, phenotyping and harvesting the Miscanthus trait trial. They wish to acknowledge their funders: G.A., M.R. and I. D. are funded as part of the Bioenergy Strategic Programme Grant by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council; J.C.-B. is funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council and The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and J.C. is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of Supergen Bioenergy (http://www.supergen-bioenergy.net/). Special thanks also to Mrs. Catherine Morris and the staff of the Analytical Chemistry Unit who carried out the chemical analysis of plant samples and to Mrs. Pauline Rees Stevens for proof-reading this manuscript.

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  1. Biorenewables and Environmental Change (BEC) Division, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University Gogerddan, Aberystwyth Ceredigion, Wales, SY23 3EB, UK

    Gordon G. Allison, Mark P. Robbins, José Carli, John C. Clifton-Brown & Iain S. Donnison

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  1. Gordon G. Allison
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Correspondence to Gordon G. Allison .

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  1. Ceres, Inc., Rancho Conejo Blvd. 1535, Thousand Oaks, 91320, California, USA

    Peter N. Mascia

  2. ZMAW, Institute for Geography, University of Hamburg, Bundesstr. 53, Hamburg, 20146, Germany

    Jürgen Scheffran

  3. Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, W. Gregory, ERML 1201, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Jack M. Widholm

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Allison, G.G., Robbins, M.P., Carli, J., Clifton-Brown, J.C., Donnison, I.S. (2010). Designing Biomass Crops with Improved Calorific Content and Attributes for Burning: a UK Perspective. In: Mascia, P., Scheffran, J., Widholm, J. (eds) Plant Biotechnology for Sustainable Production of Energy and Co-products. Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, vol 66. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13440-1_2

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