CANBERRA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have made a breakthrough in using plants as a fuel without impacting food security.
The breakthrough, revealed on Friday by a team from national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), makes use of leaves and stems to increase oil yield from a plant.
Researchers said that the technology, which has been in development for over a decade, will help advance the production and use of biofuels such as sustainable aviation fuel.
The technology has been acquired by Nufarm, an Australian agricultural innovation company that will lead a new global research partnership to further develop it.
Xue-Rong Zhou, a CSIRO senior research scientist and current project lead, described the world-leading research as a major breakthrough.
"This development of new biofuels and renewable oils will support a sustainable future," he said.
"We are looking forward to working with Nufarm and our global research partners to deploy the technology into high biomass energy cane and sorghum varieties and make it a reality."
Oils from plants are extracted from specialized seeds and fruits - such as olives, rapeseed and soybean - but the CSIRO team extended production to the biomass of plants, including leaves and stems.
CSIRO's Thomas Vanhercke, who has worked on the project for over 10 years, said that the technology could create an important new global energy source.
According to the CSIRO, demand for plant-based oils will increase by 50 percent over the next 20 years and demand must be met using the same amount of land and natural resource inputs that are currently used. ■