Plant potential in the pipeline

Each of those activities is dependent on oil, from fuel for transport to the plastic parts of your kettle, car, keyboard and mobile. Development of our high-impact consumer lifestyles is accelerating even as fossil fuel supplies are dwindling and the impact of their use on the environment becomes ever more apparent.

But plants, rather than fossil fuels can provide our future energy, fuel and everyday products and today an international group of scientists will reveal how. The EPOBIO project which involves researchers at Plant Research International is releasing its first series of reports on the endless possibilities of plants.

The renewable revolution
Plants offer a sustainable tool to achieve the renewable revolution. They are ‘green factories’ using energy from sunlight to make biofuel, bioplastics and a range of other products cheaply and in large quantities. The EPOBIO reports present detailed analyses of how plant products and plants themselves can be used to replace products made using oil. Researchers at Plant Research International, Wageningen, are responsible for assessing the environmental impact of using plants as a renewable resource - from farm to fuel, power or products.

Researcher Dr Marcel Toonen said, "Using crops as an industrial feedstock, rather than oil, offers new opportunities for farmers, processors and industries all over Europe. The sustainable cultivation and use of crops will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and at the same time have economical advantages".

Key issues highlighted in the reports are: 
The need for alternative sources of natural rubber:

• natural rubber is a strategic commodity, irreplaceable by synthetic alternatives for many of its applications, e.g. heavy duty tyres for SUVs, trucks and aeroplanes.
• the incidence of allergic reactions to proteins in natural rubber (latex) is increasing. Natural rubber is used to make protective medical products, posing a potential risk to both patients and medical workers.
• the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is at risk from a fungal disease which has already decimated large-scale rubber production in South America.
• future shortages in supply are predicted
• the rubber-producing shrub, guayule, can be grown in Europe as an alternative source of non-allergenic natural rubber

The potential of using plants as an energy supply:

• biofuels, power, chemicals, materials and fibres can be all made from plants rather than oil in integrated processing systems called biorefineries.
• the use of plant material reduces greenhouse gas emissions while guaranteeing security of supply.
• plant material and processing methods need to be optimised so that material can be more easily extracted in order to increase yield and quality of the end products and reduce energy and chemical inputs.

The potential of producing lubricants from plants:

• plant oils have similar structures and properties to oil derived from petroleum and can be used as replacements in many applications.
• plant waxes have excellent properties as lubricants but their use has previously been limited by the high cost of extraction from jojoba seeds.
• the low cost production of waxes from the non-food oil crop Crambe will provide a sustainable supply of lubricants to use in engine, transmission and hydraulic fluids.

EPOBIO Director Professor Dianna Bowles said “Two key threats to society are our dependence on finite fossil fuels and climate change. Plants have the potential to provide us with everything now made using petroleum. In this way, we can create a sustainable society for the future and address immediate concerns such as rising energy costs, security of supply and our impact on the environment.”

Plant Research International is one of 12 partners in the EPOBIO project which involves experts in plant science, environmental impact assessment, economic analysis and social expectations and combines these strengths to identify the plant-based products which offer greatest benefit to society within the next 10-15 years.


Reports in PDF:

• Cell Wall Saccharification
• Alternative Sources of Natural Rubber
• Production of Wax Esters in Crambe