Researchers study biofuel potential of noxious weed, European milfoil

In Washington State, the state Department of Ecology made a research grant to two environmental scientists based in Eastern Washington to study the biofuel potential of European milfoil, a water plant which has spread throughout the state’s rivers and lakes and is considered a pest. Researchers noticed that milfoil, when harvested from lakes and streams, was so nutrient rich that it burned other vegetation by the shoreline. The scientists will examine methods to extract oil from the plants for biofuels. A recently study on kudzu projected a yield of up to 270 gallons per acre from the noxious weed.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Jatropha is a weed, but not on list of World’s Most Invasive Species, say authors of misquoted Australian study

Last week, Biofuels Digest reported on a study from Australia which was presented at the Greenhouse 2007 conference. Media reports stated that the report, by Tim Low and Carol Booth, placed jatropha a...

Researchers study methane and hydrogen producing organisms on seafloor for biofuels potential

In the submersible Alvin, researchers from UMass are discovering and cataloguing exotic anaerobic microorganisms that grow near volcanic "black smokers" on the ocean floor, and tolerate temperatures o...

Researchers tout pennycress as biofuel feedstock; high-oil, high-yield crop grows off-season from corn, soy

In Illinois, researchers at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization say that field pennycress is a viable biofuel feedstock. The researchers note that the plant, known also as stinkweed or fr...

Off-road product manufacturers say more study needed on E20

The Alliance for a Safe Alternative Fuels Environment, an alliance of off-road gasoline-consuming product manufacturers, said that more study needed to be done on off-road products before E20 could be...

New study says international biofuels yields overestimated by more than 100 percent

A new study published in Environmental Research Letters concludes that that biofuel crop yields, on a global basis, have been overestimated by more than 100 percent, based on agricultural data collect...

New study critiques potential biofuels expansion in EU on biodiversity grounds

In Europe, a new study presents a new method for assessing the biodiversity impact of direct land use change from increased biofuel cultivation. The study examined the potential impact from doubling t...