In Tennessee, nature-based solutions are an effective tool to combat climate change triggered by rising carbon emissions, whether it’s by clearing the skies with bio-based aviation fuels or boosting natural carbon sinks. At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists are leading research to transform plants into key drivers of decarbonization, from creating biomass crops for new fuels to enhancing the ability of plants to absorb and store carbon.
Plant scientists, geneticists, chemists and engineers at ORNL have been developing pathways for better bioenergy crops for 15 years as part of the DOE’s Center for Bioenergy Innovation. During that time, the research teams have developed multiple capabilities to create plants with desired traits such as disease and pest resistance, drought tolerance, reduced need for fertilizer and better carbon storage.
ORNL brings a range of expertise and tools to the tasks of identifying the genetic triggers for preferred plant traits, creating those genetic pathways and inserting genes into wild-type plants, growing new hybrids and analyzing whether the resulting plants demonstrate the sought-after attributes. The goal has been to not only create better plants, but also speed the work so that solutions can be put into practice quickly to help prevent and respond to a changing climate.
