Cheaper Fuel From Self-Destructing Trees

sciencehabit (1205606) writes "Wood is great for building and heating homes, but it's the bane of biofuels. When converting plants to fuels, engineers must remove a key component of wood, known as lignin, to get to the sugary cellulose that's fermented into alcohols and other energy-rich compounds. That's costly because it normally requires high temperatures and caustic chemicals. Now, researchers in the United States and Canada have modified the lignin in poplar trees to self-destruct under mild processing conditions—a trick that could slash the cost of turning plant biomass into biofuels."

Comments

Wood fuel

[ArcadeMan]

Got wood, eh?

Re:Just when the American trees are under attack .

[mjwx]

Which is exactly why the US need 'Splodin trees.

2nd Amendment Rights

Well armed forest, take that treehuggers.

Re:Tough part

[Snard]

The toughest part is to make sure they don't scream as they destruct; the licensing fees would be too expensive.

Not to worry, there will probably be no one there to hear it, so it won't make any noise.