Scientists Turn Leaves into Oil Factories for Biofuel Production

An Australian-led scientific breakthrough to increase oil yield from plants is expected to advance the production and use of biofuels globally.  

Oils from plants are typically produced in seeds and fruits, but scientists from Australia’s research agency CSIRO studied how to extend that to the biomass of the plant, including the leaves and stem.  

CSIRO’s Dr Thomas Vanhercke, who has been working on the project for more than a decade, believes the technology has the potential to create an important new global energy source.

“We took the genetics for seed oil production and incorporated them across a range of crops with promising success.”

The technology effectively utilises solar energy captured by the plant to convert the leaf's starch reserves into more energy-dense oil molecules, which significantly increases the energy value of the vegetative tissue where the oil accumulates.

In some plant species, the researchers have achieved 35% oil content in the leaves under greenhouse conditions, which is similar to many oilseed crops. The oils produced are normal triglyceride type oils just like canola oil, soybean oil and other vegetable oils.

The resulting technology was acquired by Australian agricultural innovation company Nufarm, and the Biomass Oil Project has now been announced to further its development.  

Current project lead, Dr Xue-Rong Zhou, said the development of new biofuels and renewable oils will support a sustainable future. “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.”  

Nufarm is now bringing together researchers from CSIRO, the University of Florida, and the Instituto Agronomico, Brazil to take the work to the next level.