UOIT science researchers promote development of alternative fuel sources

A grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) will allow Faculty of Science assistant professors Dr. Dario Bonetta and Dr. Janice Strap to pursue important work in the development of alternatives to petroleum-derived fuels.

The grant, valued at $485,644 over four years, will facilitate research into how the cell wall structure of inedible plants can be modified to facilitate the extraction of cellulose, which is then used in the production of biofuels such as ethanol.

Currently, corn and sugarcane are the most popular choices for ethanol production; however, in addition to taking food away from plates around the world, it also requires much more energy to produce biofuels than it does from the cellulose found in certain non-food plants such as hemp and certain native North American grasses.

As global food prices begin to reflect the demand for food crops in the production of ethanol and other biofuels, geneticist Dr. Bonetta and microbiologist Dr. Strap believe their collaborative research with industry partner Performance Plants, a leading Canadian biotech company, will provide important information about how non-food plants could become a valuable, renewable resource for the production of ethanol and other fuels of the future.

Developing an efficient way to extract cellulose from hemp and grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus offers a triple advantage. Less energy is expended to facilitate the abundant production of cellulose-based ethanol, without the use of food crops such as corn, which is crucial to the world food supply, especially in less-advantaged countries.

Dr. Bonetta's background in genetics and his post-doctorate work on plant cell walls will combine with Dr. Strap's expertise in microbiology.

"In order to make the conversion to ethanol cost-effective in these kinds of plant biomass, we need to make the cell wall material more amenable to fuel conversion," said Dr. Bonetta. "We'll make better progress in that area when we know more about how those cell walls are built and how their structure influences the processing method. Our research will identify plant genes that, when modified, will lead to significant improvements in processing non-crop plants into ethanol."

"Various soil microbes have the ability to help convert plants into desirable end products such as ethanol," said Dr. Strap. "The success of our research program will position Canada as a strong player in this emerging market. Products derived from plant biomass such as alfalfa and grasses have the potential to improve the sustainability of Canada's natural resources and environmental quality. In particular, by offsetting fossil fuel use and their related emissions, these products will contribute to cleaner air and water."

"This research grant provides significant potential benefits to Canada and furthers the world's effort to efficiently produce biofuels, and also benefits students enrolled in UOIT's science programs," said UOIT's dean of science, Dr. William Smith. "This project adds to the array of opportunities to work with leading science researchers for students in our undergraduate Biological Sciences program and in our MSc graduate programs in Applied Bioscience, Materials Science, and Modelling and Computational Science."

The NSERC grant is another example of UOIT's strong national reputation for research excellence. UOIT researchers have earned millions of dollars in awards, grants and prestigious Canada Research Chairs.

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