The role of plant biotechnology in bio-energy production

摘要

Plants have long been used by humans as primary sourcesof food, medicine, fibre and energy. Over time thesediverse applications have gradually expanded in scope,scale and sophistication, with the most recent advancement deriving from the development of biotechnology,resulting in previously unimagined enhancements in plantproductivity and quality. Recently, the increasing concernabout declining global supplies of fossil oil from which wederive transportation fuels and a wide range of chemicalfeedstocks has generated new and urgent interest inexpanding the applications of plants so as to producealternatives to those materials. It is also argued that supplementing or replacing petroleum-based fuels and petrochemicals with agriculturally produced, renewableequivalents is appealing from an environmental standpoint. While the development of plant-based solutions tothis challenge includes traditional plant selection andbreeding, along with applications research, we also anticipate a significant ‘investment’ by molecular plant biotechnology. Indeed, plant biotechnology may prove to be anessential tool in developing plants with new propertiesfor use in the most efficient production of transportationbiofuels and phytochemicals.