Credit: Russ Gesch, USDA ARS
Major grants from the MN Department of Agriculture ($5M) and from Cargill ($2.5M) will support research at the UMN's Forever Green Initiative, housed in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). The research will explore the potential of many topsoil-saving crop varieties, including two novel oilseed crops—winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress—that can produce seed-based oil for low-carbon transportation fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Fuel made from these crops could reduce emissions by more than 60 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel or diesel, helping to decarbonize the airline industry and build the state's growing SAF economy.