National Biodiesel Board Funds Danforth Center

"This grant is yet another of the Danforth Center's unique partnerships for supporting basic plant science research. In this case, the partnership will address the pressing needs for more efficient methods to produce fuels from renewable plant sources," said Danforth Center President Dr. Roger N. Beachy. "We greatly appreciate the support of Senator Kit Bond and his staff in facilitating the relationship between the Danforth Center and the National Biodiesel Board in an effort to increase the oil feedstock for biodiesel production."

"We are proud to support the Danforth Center as researchers there look for ways to get more bang for the buck from each soybean seed," said NBB CEO Joe Jobe. "Increasing the oil feedstock supply is vital to the rapidly expanding biodiesel industry. Soybean oil is one of the primary feedstock sources used in the production of biodiesel, and we hope this research will increase the soy oil supply. Plus, whatever advances are made on beans will have a high likelihood of being transferred to other oilseed crops – other biodiesel sources."

Danforth Center Principal Investigator Dr. Jan Jaworski will lead the research project which will be focused on increasing the oil produced in soybean seeds by altering specific biochemical pathways that are embedded within the soybean plant. "We will undertake a new approach to enhancing the production of soy oil with a goal of increasing the percentage of oil produced in each seed," Dr. Jaworski explained. "While this approach is new, we are confident our results will lead to increased oil production without reducing the amount of protein in the seeds: soy protein is an important source of food and feed."

"Increasing the efficiency of renewable biofuels from plants is vital to America's drive for energy independence and is critical to improving our environment. Making biofuels more efficient puts America one step closer to a stable home-grown energy supply and I applaud the partnership of the Danforth Center and the National Biodiesel Board for their leadership and vision," said U.S. Senator from Missouri Kit Bond.

Biodiesel is an environmentally safe fuel, and rises to the top of transportation fuels when weighing carbon footprint, life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and energy balance. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's life cycle study, B100 biodiesel reduces life cycle carbon emissions by 78 percent. In 2007 alone, biodiesel's contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions was the equivalent of removing 700,000 passenger vehicles from America's roadways. Biodiesel is also an efficient fuel, as it creates 3.5 units of energy for each unit of energy consumed in the production of the fuel.

Maintaining and enhancing environmental sustainability is a priority of the biodiesel industry. Using less energy to produce more oil from the same acreage is a fundamental step toward sustainability. According to statistics provided by NBB, if over the next ten years, plant science research could help the biodiesel industry achieve a ten percent increase in soybean yield and a five percent increase in oil content, across America’s entire three billion bushel soybean crop, an additional two billion gallons of oil could be produced using the same or less energy than today. Two billion gallons of biodiesel would replace more diesel fuel than the U.S. refines from all of the crude oil currently imported from Iraq.

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