An Energy & Environmental Science article which analyses the use of agave (tequila) plants as a source of bio-ethanol has been featured in The Guardian today: Tequila gives new biofuel crops a shot
The work by scientists at the University of Oxford and The University of Sydney have shown that Agave – a plant used to make tequila – is an alternative feedstock to corn or sugarcane in the production of bioethanol fuel. They have studied the viability of using Agave as an alternative feedstock because it can be grown in an arid environment, away from arable land.
Bioethanol produced from corn and sugarcane is water and fertiliser intensive and requires a significant amount of land. The result is a trade-off between feedstocks for the food markets and feedstocks for bioethanol production.
Read the Energy & Environmental Science Analysis article:
Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas analysis for agave-derived bioethanol
Xiaoyu Yan, Daniel K. Y. Tan, Oliver R. Inderwildi, J. A. C. Smith and David A. King
Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1EE01107C
