Connecting biofuel and conservation policies

Summary author: Becky Ham

2025-08-14

(Press-News.org) While biofuels may be part of the solution to replace fossil fuels and reduce climate-warming carbon emissions, bioenergy needs a new “climate-smart” policy to ensure that it produces both low-carbon products and promotes carbon sequestration, according to Madhu Khanna and colleagues. In this Policy Forum, Khanna et al. note that current policies to promote bioenergy in the United States, such as the Renewable Fuel Standard and Low Carbon Fuel Standard, do not distinguish between carbon intensities (CI) of the different farming practices (from tillage to fertilizer use) used to produce biofuels. They also do not account for the carbon sequestration produced by biofuel feedstocks. They suggest that new biofuel policies should include accounting of farming and production practices that reduce direct emissions and increase soil carbon sequestration. “Such a policy could lower the barriers for farmers to obtain credit for their carbon sequestration by bundling the market value of the crop with its CI and being sold into a single market for a carbon-differentiated biofuel feedstock rather than in two separate markets (a feedstock market and a carbon market),” Khanna et al. write.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Deep learning model successfully predicted ignition in inertial confinement fusion experiment

2025-08-14

Brian Spears and colleagues built a generative machine learning model that was used to successfully predict the outcome of a recent fusion ignition experiment at the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF). Their model predicted, with a probability greater than 70%, that ignition was the most likely outcome of the experiment. The findings could guide researchers working on future inertial confinement fusion experiments, which use energetic lasers to compress and heat a capsule of hydrogen isotopes to create nuclear reactions that produce fusion energy. Ignition ...

Maternal antibodies in breast milk regulate early immune responses in mouse gut

2025-08-14

The first weeks outside the womb are a massive learning experience for the neonatal immune system, especially in the gut as it learns to distinguish helpful from harmful antigens. In mice, maternal antibodies ingested in breast milk in the first week after birth help to regulate immune responses in the newborn gut, according to a new study by Meera Shenoy and colleagues. This process builds the important partnership between the microbiome and host at an early stage, paving the way for nutrient assimilation, avoiding inappropriate inflammation and resistance against pathogens. ...

Densely planted maize communicates with neighboring plants to defend against pests

2025-08-14

A careful experiment by Dongsheng Guo and colleagues reveals that maize in a densely planted plot can communicate with neighboring plants through the release of the volatile gas linalool, triggering the roots of its neighbors to release compounds that can change the bacterial composition of the soil. This plant-soil communication helps the plants defend against the increased risk of pests and predation found in high-density plantings, Guo et al. conclude. The findings could aid agricultural researchers looking for ways to sustainably optimize crop yield through different planting patterns and possibly through targeting linalool production. ...

Paper: Decarbonize agriculture by expanding policies aimed at low-carbon biofuels

2025-08-14

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A team of agricultural economists, environmental scientists and policy experts envisions a path toward a carbon-neutral agricultural future by expanding the reach of policies designed to promote low-carbon biofuels for transportation and aviation. In a new paper in the journal Science, the researchers propose policies that would reward farmers for adopting “climate-smart” practices when growing biofuel crops and remove the hurdles that currently thwart such efforts. Climate-smart practices include techniques that build soil carbon, like cover-cropping, not tilling fields after harvest and adding biochar ...

New tech speeds up AI training for drug discovery/disease research

2025-08-14

University of Oregon bioengineer Calin Plesa has developed technology that creates massive, high-quality biological datasets at unprecedented speed and scale, solving a critical bottleneck that has prevented AI from tackling biology's biggest challenges—from studying cancer-associated genes to designing new proteins to accelerating drug development. In research detailed in the latest edition of Science Advances, Plesa used this technology to uncover genetic factors behind antimicrobial resistance, demonstrating how to generate the vast datasets needed to train powerful machine learning systems faster and cheaper than ever before. END ...

Researchers synthesize a new allotrope of carbon

2025-08-14

Images available via the multimedia section. Chemists have demonstrated the synthesis of a new molecular form of carbon. The new molecule – cyclo[48]carbon, made up of 48 carbon atoms in an alternating single/triple bond pattern – is stable enough to be studied in liquid solution form at room temperature. The study – only the second example of a new type of molecular carbon allotrope that can be studied under normal laboratory conditions – has been published today (14 August) in Science. In a new study led by Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry, chemists have demonstrated the synthesis ...

Scientists hack microbes to identify environmental sources of methane

2025-08-14

Roughly two-thirds of all emissions of atmospheric methane — a highly potent greenhouse gas that is warming planet Earth — come from microbes that live in oxygen-free environments like wetlands, rice fields, landfills and the guts of cows. Tracking atmospheric methane to its specific sources and quantifying their importance remains a challenge, however. Scientists are pretty good at tracing the sources of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, to focus on mitigating these emissions. But to trace methane’s origins, scientists often have to measure the isotopic composition of methane's component atoms, carbon and hydrogen, to ...

New high blood pressure guideline emphasizes prevention, early treatment to reduce CVD risk

2025-08-14

Guideline Highlights: Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure (≥130/80 mm Hg), which is the #1 preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and heart failure, as well as kidney disease, cognitive decline and dementia. A new joint guideline from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology advises earlier treatment that includes lifestyle modification and medications as appropriate, recommends close blood pressure ...

"Every Brilliant Thing”, the interactive one-person play with a suicidality theme now making its West End debut, reduced suicide-associated stigma among university students who attended, even up to 30

2025-08-14

"Every Brilliant Thing”, the interactive one-person play with a suicidality theme now making its West End debut, reduced suicide-associated stigma among university students who attended, even up to 30 days later. +++ Article URL: https://plos.io/411ECQu Article Title: A performing arts intervention to decrease suicide stigma on campus: A three time point assessment of “Every Brilliant Thing” Author Countries: United States Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this ...

Climate models reveal human influence behind stalled pacific cycle

2025-08-14

A new CU Boulder-led study has revealed that recent changes in North Pacific Ocean temperatures—long believed to be the result of natural variability—are in fact being driven by human-generated greenhouse gas and industrial aerosol emissions. These oceanic shifts are directly linked to the prolonged megadrought gripping the American Southwest, and this research published August 13th in Nature suggests it may not ease for another 30 years. “Our results show that the drought and ocean patterns we’re seeing today are not just natural fluctuations—they’re largely driven by human activity,” ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

ORC2 regulation of human gene expression shows unexpected breadth and scale

Researchers track how iron deficiency disrupts photosynthesis in crucial ocean algae

A Mount Sinai-Led team creates model for understanding how the brain’s decision-making is impacted in psychiatric disorders

"Every Brilliant Thing”, the interactive one-person play with a suicidality theme now making its West End debut, reduced suicide-associated stigma among university students who attended, even up to 30