
UC Merced School of Engineering professor Elliott Campbell has received the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, through which he’ll receive $407,588 over five years to study the capacity of abandoned agricultural lands to generate crops used to produce biofuels.
That's something of a new step for researchers looking for renewable fuel sources. Prime ag lands are best used for food, not fuel, and cutting natural forests to pave the way for new biofuel crops doesn't exactly go along with the spirit of the endeavor. So Campbell will determine the amount of abandoned ag land in the United States and Brazil, then calculate the amount of biomass that could be produced on those fields.
“Biofuels hold great promise as a new energy source, but they must be produced wisely to avoid impacting our food economy, air quality and water resources,” Campbell said. “We know how to make biofuels, but we are still unclear on how to make biofuels without hurting our ability to grow food and protect natural resources.”




