Environmental groups, worried about the sources of new fuels, rejected proposals to make biofuels out of trees. (scientificamerican.com)
This takes them closer to creating microorganisms with synthetic genomes that are purpose built to carry out specific roles, such as making biofuels or hydrogen. (newscientist.com)
That, in turn, could obviate the need for making biofuels from corn, sugar, and other food crops and thereby reduce the need for using prime agricultural land to grow biofuels. (sciencemag.org)