Australian researchers are a step closer to turning plants into ‘biofactories’ capable of producing oils which can be used to replace petrochemicals used to manufacture a range of products.

Two main organizations, the CSIRO/Grains Research and Development Corporation Crop Biofactories Initiative (CBI), have achieved a major advance by accumulating 30 per cent of an unusual fatty acid (UFA) in the model plant, Arabidopsis.

UFAs are usually sourced from petrochemicals to produce plastics, paints and cosmetics. CBI is developing new technologies for making a range of UFAs in oilseeds, to provide Australia with a head start in the emerging ‘bioeconomy’.

“Using crops as biofactories has many advantages, beyond the replacement of dwindling petrochemical resources,” says the leader of the crop development team, CSIRO’s Dr Allan Green. “Global challenges such as population growth, climate change and the switch from non-renewable resources are opening up many more opportunities for bio-based products.”

The issue that may arise from this new method of creating plastics is a similar one to the issue with ethanol based fuels. Do we have the available land to produce the amount needed to fill demand. With current methods of creating ethanol nearly the entire area of the United States would have to be covered with corn fields in order to fill the demand for gasoline.

This post was based on the article Boost For 'Green Plastics' From Plants in the ScienceDaily