Rock Island Today

Western Illinois University is slated to receive just under $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help improve pennycress plants.

According to WIU, the grant comes roughly a year after WIU Agriculture Professor Win Phippen rolled out a $10 million federal grant in a probe for how pennycress was being used as a commercial crop. This time around, WIU’s grant will help the University Farm serve as a growth site for the pennycress plant. There will also be sites at Illinois State University, Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and Washington State University. The sites will be used to test how the environment affects pennycress plants.

The plants will then be transported to WIU, where its oil content will be tested. ISU will serve as a genetic testing site for the plants in an effort to boost oil content and develop plants that can withstand conditions like drought or high heat temperatures. 

"We want to look at plants that are grown in diverse environments and make sure we really understand the different stresses on the plants and create plants that are more resilient to environmental stresses. We want to make sure the plants will make a good fuel,” Phippen said. 

The research is scheduled to run for five years. 

Other participants include the Carnegie Institute for Science, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory EMSL. 

"This grant is a continuation of the efforts put forth by Dr. Phippen and his group in the commercialization of Pennycress as an official agricultural commodity," WIU Agriculture Director Andy Baker said. "The USDA sees great potential in this crop in fulfilling the future needs in the biofuel industry. We appreciate the continued support from the University's administration on this project."