WSU researchers score grant to see how biofuel crops use soil nutrients

In Washington state, Washington State University scientists are working to more precisely understand how plants use nutrients from soil at the level of single cells, with the goal of helping crop plants used for biofuels be more sustainable.

A team of WSU researchers was awarded one of 20 exploratory grants to access state-of-the-art equipment at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) in Richland, Washington. The lab is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The long-term goal is to breed grass crops that can be used for biofuels and flourish on land that isn’t already growing food crops.