Plants and BioEnergy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Economics of Bioenergy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. The Prospects of First Generation Ethanol in Developing Countries

      • Patricia Guardabassi, José Goldemberg

      Pages 3-11

   3. Can Energy Policy Drive Sustainable Land Use? Lessons from Biofuels Policy Development Over the Last Decade

      • Jeremy Woods, Nicole Kalas

      Pages 13-33

   4. Advanced Biofuels: Economic Uncertainties, Policy Options, and Land Use Impacts

      • Wallace E. Tyner, Farzad Taheripour

      Pages 35-48

   5. Algae Farming and Its Bio-Products

      • Gal Hochman, David Zilberman

      Pages 49-64

3. Biomass Biology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65

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   2. Regional Gene Pools for Restoration, Conservation, and Genetic Improvement of Prairie Grasses

      • Andrew R. Jakubowski, Michael D. Casler

      Pages 67-80

   3. Mining Genetic Diversity of Sorghum as a Bioenergy Feedstock

      • Cynthia M. B. Damasceno, Robert E. Schaffert, Ismail Dweikat

      Pages 81-106

   4. Genetics, Genomics and Crop Modelling: Integrative Approaches to the Improvement of Biomass Willows

      • Angela Karp, Goetz M. Richter, Ian F. Shield, Steven J. Hanley

      Pages 107-130

   5. Camelina: An Emerging Oilseed Platform for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Based Materials

      • Umidjon Iskandarov, Hae Jin Kim, Edgar B. Cahoon

      Pages 131-140

   6. Perspectives in Brazil of the Contribution of Palm Trees to Biodiesel Production

      • Janaina M. Meyer, Antonio Salatino

      Pages 141-151

   7. Xylan Biosynthesis in Plants, Simply Complex

      • Ahmed Faik, Nan Jiang, Michael A. Held

      Pages 153-181

   8. Towards Redesigning Cellulose Biosynthesis for Improved Bioenergy Feedstocks

      • Catherine Rayon, Anna T. Olek, Nicholas C. Carpita

      Pages 183-193

4. Biomass Processing

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 195-195

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   2. Developing Novel Enzyme Repertoires for the Efficient Deconstruction of Plant Biomass Tailored for the Bioenergy Industry

      • Harry J. Gilbert

      Pages 197-209

   3. Using Natural Plant Cell Wall Degradation Mechanisms to Improve Second Generation Bioethanol

      • Adriana Grandis, Amanda P. de Souza, Eveline Q. P. Tavares, Marcos S. Buckeridge

      Pages 211-230

   4. Linking Plant Biology and Pretreatment: Understanding the Structure and Organization of the Plant Cell Wall and Interactions with Cellulosic Biofuel Production

      • Rebecca Garlock Ong, Shishir P. S. Chundawat, David B. Hodge, Sai Keskar, Bruce E. Dale

      Pages 231-253

   5. Lignocellulosic Biorefineries: Concepts and Possibilities

      • Kenneth F. Reardon

      Pages 255-265

   6. Catalytic Dehydration of Lignocellulosic Derived Xylose to Furfural

      • Basudeb Saha, Nathan S. Mosier, Mahdi M. Abu-Omar

      Pages 267-276

A country's vision for developing renewable and sustainable energy resources is typically propelled by three important drivers – security, cost, and environmental impact. The U.S. currently accounts for a quarter of the world’s total oil consumption, with domestic demands necessitating – at an ever growing cost – a net import of more than 50% of the oil used in this country. At the same time, Brazil, because of its forward thinking on energy strategy, is today energy independent. As emerging economies around the world increase their petroleum use by large margins and as large fractions of that new consumption are necessarily supplied from unstable parts of the world, the inevitable repercussions on petroleum-driven economies will continue to escalate. In addition, there is an unequivocal imperative to take immediate and aggressive measures to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing fossil fuel consumption and increasing our use of carbon-neutral or carbon-negative fuels as well as improving efficiency of fuel use. Economic growth and development worldwide depend increasingly on secure supplies of reliable, affordable, clean energy. Together with its counterpart societies, was convened the First Pan-American Congress on Plants and BioEnergy, which was held in June, 2008, in Mérida, Mexico. Sponsored by the American Society of Plant Biologists, this congress was designed to initiate Pan-American research collaborations in energy biosciences. At that congress, the organizational committee committed themselves to continue the meeting biennially, resulting in the 2nd Pan-American Congress on Plants and BioEnergy to be held with the endorsement of ASPB, July 6-10, 2010, in São Paulo, Brazil. Whereas the 1st congress covered a broad range of topics that bioenergy impacted, the second congress will focus more on the advances in plant biology: the genetic improvement of energy crop plants, their fit into regional environments, and the development ofa sustainable energy agriculture.

• American Society of Plant Biologists
• BioEnergy
• Plant Sciences

• Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA

  Maureen C. McCann

• Botany, Institute of Biosciences, University of Campinas, Sao Paolo, Brazil

  Marcos S. Buckeridge

• Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA

  Nicholas C. Carpita

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