In nature, plant oils represent one of the most energy-rich sources of renewable hydrocarbons, and are stored in the form of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in oilseeds. These TAGs are used as alternative feedstock for biodiesel production. Plant oils possess several advantages compared to other fuels, such as higher energy content, no need for fermentation, compatible with existing fuel technology, and are environmental friendly. The current supply of these energy rich compounds, however, is limited due to low crop yield, competition with food production crops and available arable land. Meeting this ever increasing demand is challenging given the production of oilseed crops are limited to conventional methods.
A diversified research approach, into non-conventional sources of vegetable oils from bioenergy crops, including oil production in vegetative tissues of plants and microalgae could meet these challenges. Additionally, improving available techniques to isolate high quality biodiesel from plant/microalgae biomass, developing a low-cost portable continuous biodiesel process, capable of utilizing flexible feedstock, and capable of converting oilseeds or crude soy/rapeseed oil into biodiesel, which pass the most stringent cold-flow filtration specifications, is also crucial.
Following are current research areas of focus:
- Understanding the biochemistry and mechanisms of primary metabolism in plants.
- Engineering photosynthetic organisms for Industrial and biofuels production.
- Environmental biotechnology and bioremediation.
- Bioenergy and environmental education and training.
To learn more, contact Dr. Sanjaya at sanjaya@wvstateu.edu.