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Engineering Advantages, Challenges and Status of Grass Energy Crops

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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

High yield with low inputs, resistance to disease, pests and drought, adaptation to a wide range of soils and climates, and biomass composition that is optimized for end use are identified as important traits for cellulosic biomass crops. Current status and future prospects for genetic improvement are reviewed for grass crops, using Miscanthus, switchgrass, sugarcane (or energy cane) and sorghum as examples. In addition, possible approaches for integrating grasses into cellulosic biomass supply systems are discussed. It is concluded that both perennial and annual grasses can play a significant role in providing cellulosic biomass for a wide range of bioenergy applications, and considerable potential exists for genetic improvement of grass crops for this purpose.

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Acknowledgments

The authors from Mendel acknowledge their Mendel and Tinplant colleagues for helpful discussions and insights, particularly Katrin Jakob, Erik Sacks, Fasong Zhou, Martin Deuter and Cora Münnich.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, 202 Funchess Hall, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    David I. Bransby & Edzard van Santen

  2. Mendel BioEnergy Seeds, 4846 East 450 North, Lafayette, IN, 47905, USA

    Damian J. Allen

  3. Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., 3935 Point Eden Way, Hayward, CA, 94545, USA

    Neal Gutterson & Gregory Ikonen

  4. USDA-ARS Sugarcane Research Unit, 5883 USDA Road, Houma, LA, 70360, USA

    Edward Richard Jr

  5. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, 370 Olsen Blvd., College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    William Rooney

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  1. David I. Bransby
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  2. Damian J. Allen
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  3. Neal Gutterson
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  4. Gregory Ikonen
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  5. Edward Richard Jr
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  6. William Rooney
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  7. Edzard van Santen
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Correspondence to David I. Bransby .

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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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Bransby, D.I. et al. (2010). Engineering Advantages, Challenges and Status of Grass Energy Crops. 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_6

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