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The project took an integrated approach to sustainable ethanol production
from sugarcane, looking at cane production and harvesting and the
utilization of the by-products of ethanol production.
The lead researcher on the project, EARTH Soils Science Professor B.K.
Singh, assembled a team of EARTH professors: Bert Kohlmann, Johan
Perret, Fritz Elango, Raul Botero and Ramon León and five researchers
from the University of Florida.
The biofuels boom in the first decade of the millennium led to new
technologies for converting plant biomass into liquid fuel, or ethanol.
The next step was to identify those species that grow quickly in limited
conditions, produce large amounts of biomass and require few
agricultural inputs to thrive.
Ramón León (right) evaluates energycane growth with student Valdemiro Eugénio Mauaie ('11, Mozambique), who as part of his Professional Experience will be assisting León with various research projects in 2011.
Growing like a weed: research project shows the potential for biomass
in the humid tropics
Could the humid tropics be the epicenter for cellulose-ethanol production?
One research project conducted by EARTH weed science professor, Dr.
Ramón León, seems to indicate a huge potential, while also raising
some important environmental questions.
In 2009, EARTH University and the University of Florida initiated a
year-long joint research project funded with a $1 million grant from the
United States Department of Energy (US DOE).
ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION