oxford university

A biostimulant for wheat

May 28, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Feeding a global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by mid-century is a massive challenge. Wheat provides a fifth of the calories in the global human diet and is a significant source of protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. Finding ways to increase the yield of wheat crops has great value. However, wheat has complex genetics, which makes it difficult to improve yields by traditional breeding methods or even by genetic engineering.

Researchers at Oxford University and the nearby Rosalind Franklin Institute have developed a biostimulant that can deliver increased wheat yields of up to 12%. It is applied as a spray and a four-year study in Argentina and Mexico demonstrated that it delivers major yield improvements irrespective of weather conditions.

The biostimulant is based on trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which is a natural molecule that regulates the plant equivalent of blood sugar. T6P prompts plants to produce more starch and increases the rate of photosynthesis.

Naturally occurring T6P cannot be applied topically because it cannot cross cell membranes. The researchers developed a membrane-permeable precursor of T6P that releases T6P into a plant in the presence of sunlight.

The biostimulant can be manufactured on an industrial scale and would be inexpensive to use.

The researchers have created SugaROx, a spinout company whose mission is “to increase the productivity, resilience, sustainability, and profitability of crop production” using active ingredients inspired by powerful natural plant molecules.

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New biostimulant treatment significantly boosts wheat yields, field studies confirm

Photo, posted July 28, 2014, courtesy of Brad Higham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Decarbonizing Could Save Trillions | Earth Wise

October 18, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists have long been calling for a transition to clean energy to prevent catastrophic impacts of climate change. For much of that time, many people and, specifically, many of those in power, were skeptical of the need to do something about the warming climate. But even as the facts about the changing climate became increasingly undeniable, there continued to be fears that the transition to clean energy sources would be unacceptably expensive and harmful to the economy.

A recent study published by Oxford University shows that the opposite is true: a concerted effort to convert to green energy technologies such as solar, wind, and batteries, will save the world enormous amounts of money.

The Oxford study shows that a transition to nearly 100% clean energy by 2050 results in a lower-cost energy system that provides energy access to more people around the world. The energy transition is expected to save the world at least $12 trillion compared to continuing our current levels of fossil fuel use.

The cost of renewable energy sources has been going down for decades and they are already cheaper than fossil fuels in many situations. It is expected that they will become cheaper than fossil fuels across almost all applications over time. Accelerating the transition will allow renewables to become cheaper faster.

The study made use of probabilistic models to estimate the costs of various possible future energy systems based on past data. Even the most pessimistic models showed that scaling up green technologies is likely to drive their costs down so far that they will generate net cost savings and that the faster the transition goes, the more will be saved. The result will be a cleaner, cheaper, more energy secure future.

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Decarbonising the energy system by 2050 could save trillions

Photo, posted July 12, 2010, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Safely Storing Carbon | Earth Wise

February 28, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As carbon dioxide levels continue to increase in the atmosphere and emissions reductions aren’t happening as fast as needed, there is growing interest in carbon capture and storage technologies.

The idea is to capture the CO2 emitted from industrial processes or from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation, and then permanently store it out of harm’s way. There are several different types of sites where the CO2 might be stored. Deep saline aquifers are particularly desirable for the purpose, but depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are commonplace and relatively simple to use. These are oil and gas wells that have been drained of their resources.

In many cases, CO2 has already been injected into these depleted wells as a means of enhanced oil recovery. Therefore, such wells provide a unique opportunity to study what happens to carbon dioxide when it’s stored in these places.

Researchers from Oxford University recently published a paper in the journal Nature that compared the state of depleted wells with injected carbon dioxide to that of wells without the injected gas. They found that nearly 3/4 of the CO2 was dissolved in the groundwater. Unexpectedly, they also found that 13-19% of the carbon dioxide was converted into methane by methanogenic bacteria. Methane is less soluble, less compressible, and less reactive than carbon dioxide.

Producing methane in these wells is therefore undesirable. Deeper sites that have temperatures too high for the bacteria to thrive are much more suitable. This research is important for identifying future carbon capture and storage sites and for designing long-term monitoring programs that are essential for low-risk, long-term carbon storage.

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Safer carbon capture and storage

Photo, posted November 6, 2015, courtesy of CL Baker via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.