Biofuels & Bioproducts

The bioeconomy which includes bioenergy and bioproducts is the use of biological material, such as plants or algae, to create energy and/or products rather than relying on fossil fuel-based resources. Faculty in the School of Environmental Sciences, with colleagues from governments, other universities and research institutes are studying different components of the bioenergy and bioproducts value chain. Examples of research interests include extracting biofuels from oilseeds, waste oil, and algae; bioconversion of plant or microbial compounds to industrial or therapeutic chemicals; production of plant biomass such as miscanthus, willow or poplar for biofuel.