Using advanced plant breeding and biotechnology, Ceres is developing new varieties of energy grasses (specifically, switchgrass, miscanthus, and sorghum) for use as feedstock for the production of biofuels. These varieties will have greater yields than naturally-occurring grasses and require fewer agricultural inputs (e.g., nitrogen fertilizers). The ARPA-E funding will enable Ceres to test these varieties in the field and move closer to commercialization. Ceres projects that full-scale deployment of this technology could conserve 1.26 billion barrels of oil, 58 million tons of coal, 1.2 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer, 682 million tons of carbon dioxide, and 82 million pounds of nitrogen oxide emissions from 2020 to 2030. Indeed, the carbon sequestered in the roots of perennial plants like switchgrass and miscanthus has the potential to make these grasses carbon negative (i.e., they can sequester more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than is released in the lifecycle of producing and burning the fuel derived from them). If successful, this project could increase domestic, renewable biofuel production, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels, and generate new jobs.
Organization Ceres, Inc.
Website www.ceres.net
Point of Contact Dr. Roger Pennell
Project Factsheet (PDF 424 KB)