- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Stephen Kaffka, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, is field testing a variety of potential biofuel crops in California, including castor, wrote Harry Cline in Western Farm Press.
Among the possibilities are canola, amelina, meadowfoam, sugar beets, sweet sorghum, sugar cane and switchgrass. Castor, however, is the only on with a yellow "Do Not Cross" tape circling the experimental plots. The warning stems from the fact that castor beans contain the potent toxin ricin. Ricin is a considered both a chemical and biological weapon, according...
- Author: Jenny Wang
The Biodiesel Industries of Ventura was awarded $2 million grant for research and development of biodiesel fuel, according to a report by Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star.
Biodiesel Industries has partnered with Stephen Kaffka, director of the California Biomass Collaborative and UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
Kaffka will conduct research to develop viable biofuel feedstocks at test plots at UC Davis and in Salinas, the Imperial Valley and Five Points in the Central...