Recent scientific advancements of biofuels by MSU researchers could pave the way for both new fuels and low-calorie foods.
Timothy Durrett, an MSU plant biology research associate, along with visiting professor of plant biology Michael Pollard and university distinguished professor of plant biology John Ohlrogge, discovered a technique of isolating a gene responsible for the synthesis of an oil in the seeds of the Euonymus alatus — or burning bush.
The gene was transferred to other crop plants, such as the mustard weed, to create acetyl-glycerides, or acTAGs, a component in most types of vegetable oils.
From there, the oil can be used in a number of different settings, such as food and fuel.
However, problems exist in the current state of vegetable oil as a fuel source, Durrett said.
“Vegetable oils are too viscous to be used directly in diesel engines,” he said. “Thus, biodiesel is synthesized by reacting vegetable oils with an alcohol in order to reduce their viscosity to that suitable for a diesel engine.”
With further research, the oil could be more efficient as a fuel source, Durrett said.
“One advantage of acTAGs, if they are eventually used as a biofuel, is that because of this viscosity reduction they could be used directly in diesel engines without the biodiesel production step,” he said.
With the increasing cost of gasoline, the need for a variety of fuels has increased throughout the years, said Jonathan Walton, associate director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bio Energy Research Center at MSU.
But the addition of the new vegetable oil is not enough to bring energy prices down, Walton said.
“It’s not cheap to make other alternative fuels,” Walton said. “The price of petroleum will continue to increase. Gas would look more and more expensive while the price of the biofuels look good comparatively.”
Although the advancement of the science and technology has progressed enough to show results, the potential uses of the oil is not certain as a fuel or even a low-calorie food oil, Durrett said.
“Obviously, a lot more testing is needed before either of these potential applications is confirmed,” he said.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzed the oils of thousands of species of plants, but did not study the oils further, Pollard said.
The potential for new discoveries is likely, he said.
“We’re going to have to test,” Pollard said. “It’s opening a scientific door to think about how to use a new material. Maybe we haven’t even thought of its use yet.”
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