The Texas A&M University System has hosted its own agricultural research facility since 1887. Today, the station is known as Texas AgriLife Research, and it has been a part of some of the biggest breakthroughs in agricultural and life science through the years, from developing crops for Texas to innovative cloning experiments. Thanks to a generous 1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agrilife Research is now set to throw its hat into the bioenergy arena.The specific project involves working with energy sorghum, a specialized type of sorghum plant which produces high-quality ethanol. Researchers will be picking and choosing from a variety of sorghum traits to produce 300 different strains, and then analyze the results to see which produces the highest yield with the least number of problems. Geneticist Dr. John Mullet is the lead researcher on the project. In the past, researchers were able to gather 20 tons per acre of the crop, but various issues kept it from being optimal. (more…)

Biofuels Digest is perhaps the greatest testament to the power of biofuels to change the world. While they still occupy only a small amount of the energy source makeup in America, they have inspired Floridian Jim Lane to create a daily digest newsletter which has over 75,000 readers and an Asian branch. Even more impressive, it’s become an authority in the industry, with rankings like “The 30 Most Transformative Technologies) and the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” attracting major attention.BD is in the process of coming up with a new ranking, the “Top 100 People in Bioenergy,” as decided by reader votes. The ballots are open to registered subscribers for the next week, after which the Digest‘s editorial board will contribute their own votes to the ballot. (more…)