Modern plant science could be instrumental in finding replacements for dwindling petroleum supplies. And the Danforth Plant Science Center is looking into a hardy plant that could be grown in Missouri as a key in making the transition.
“It is absolutely inevitable that the price of fuel will go up,” said Jan Jaworski, vice president for research at the Danforth Center. “In about 10-15 years the supplies of petroleum will begin to go down.”
Jaworski and his colleagues at the Danforth Center are focusing on Camelina sativa, pictured above. It was grown for centuries in northern Europe as a source of lamp oil, In this country, companies have begun cultivating camelina in Montana as a source of omega-3 oils contained in some food supplements.
The scientists envision that this rediscovered “near-crop” could be a vehicle for producing commodities to either replace some petroleum products, or be part of the manufacturing process of petroleum supplements such as ethanol — or both. If Camelina could be grown as a seed crop in Missouri, oils could be pressed from the seeds, and the remaining proteinaceous matter could be used as a source of enzymes to be used in the production of biofuels.
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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.