STATEMENT OF

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGISTS

THE NATIONAL CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION

AND

THE AMERICAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 9, 2001

RELATING TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2002 APPROPRIATIONS

FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

OFFICE OF SCIENCE

ENERGY BIOSCIENCES PROGRAM

Summary Paragraph

The Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Energy Biosciences program is a highly competitive research program that supports leading basic research on plants and microbes. Plant genomics and recombinant DNA technology (biotechnology) offer revolutionary new tools to plant scientists to engineer plants that will address the nation’s energy needs. Basic plant research is leading to plants that will produce valuable chemicals that will replace petroleum-derived industrial products. These homegrown energy crops will provide benefits to the U.S. economy, farmers, the chemical industry, consumers and environment. Environmental benefits will also result from research on engineered plants that remove heavy metal contaminants from the soil and water. Scientists supported by the Energy Biosciences program have gained prominence in the national and international science communities. As just one of these examples, Energy Biosciences-sponsored research on capture of energy from photosynthesis by Professor Paul Boyer led to the award of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (biochemistry) for Dr. Boyer. The Energy Biosciences program is an example of the optimum way basic science can be used to solve some of our country’s most challenging energy and environmental problems.

Mr. Chairman, the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP), representing 6,000 plant scientists, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), representing more than 30,000 members, and the American Phytopathological Society (APS), representing 5,000 scientists, appreciate having this opportunity to submit comments on opportunities offered by energy-related plant research sponsored by the Department of Energy. The DOE Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Energy Biosciences program funds basic research in the plant sciences and non-medial microbiology in several important areas.

The Energy Biosciences program supports basic research that makes use of the sun’s energy and atmospheric carbon dioxide to produce in plants renewable sources of energy including fuels and industrial products. Promising research on plants in the area of phytoremediation sponsored by the Energy Biosciences program is leading to enhanced plants that can be used to clean heavy metal contaminants from soil and water.

Until the latter part of the 19th Century, people throughout the world were dependent upon plants and other contemporaneous biological sources for the production of organic materials. Plants and animals provided the only sources of fibers, coatings, lubricants, solvents, dyes, waxes, fillers, insulation, fragrances detergents, sizing, leather, wood, paper, rubber and many other types of materials.

Dr. Chris Somerville, whose research has been supported by the Energy Biosciences program, and Dario Bonetta, provided in the January 2001 issue of the peer-reviewed science journal Plant Physiology a historical background and projected future advances in energy-related plant research. These scientists identified a number of opportunities offered by advances in plant genomics and modern transformation technologies such as biotechnology that will lead to development of novel plant products to replace petroleum-derived chemicals. Research in this area has been identified by Plant Physiology as one of the greatest advances in plant science of the past 25 years. The DOE Energy Biosciences program is the key source of support for this basic energy research. This statement includes in part some of the findings of Somerville and Bonetta endorsed by the Society.

As recently as 1930, 30 percent of industrial organic chemicals were derived from plants. The discovery of extensive petroleum reserves and advances in chemistry and petroleum engineering resulted in a major shift to reliance on fossil sources of organic feedstocks such as petroleum. These developments also led to the development of petroleum-based materials, such as inexpensive plastics, with properties that could not be duplicated by abundantly available natural materials.

However, many important materials are still derived from plants and animals including wood, cork, paper, leather, cotton, ramie, hemp, flax, sisal, wool and silk. Rubber from natural latex is still the only material that can be used to produce tires that will reliably withstand the forces associated with airplane landings. Linseed oil is still used to make paint. Clearly, for many applications, biological sources can still be used to produce materials on the scale necessary to meet the needs of the U.S. and other populous industrialized nations.

Research leading to home-grown genetically engineered plants that produce commercially valuable chemicals offers many benefits for the U.S., which is now greatly dependent upon imported petroleum for these products. Enhanced energy crops would help diversify crop production in the U.S. by producing high-value chemicals and other technical materials. These enhanced crops could create potentially large new markets for excess production of American agriculture. Plants engineered to be chemical feedstocks would also address the long-term goal of developing more sustainable and environmentally benign methods of meeting national needs for chemicals and other materials that are currently produced by chemical synthesis from declining petroleum or coal feedstocks. In addition it is possible to envision the production in plants of novel biolgocially inspired materials with properties not easily simulated through chemical synthesis.

Two major factors suggest that the trend toward use of petroleum-derived products over plant-based products can be reversed. First, the costs of agricultural plant products have declined steadily over the past 75 years, while oil prices have generally increased. Second, we now have the ability through genomics and genetic engineering to tap into the vast chemical diversity produced biologically. Within the plant kingdom alone, over 50,000 different organic chemical structures are produced biologically. The microbial world provides many additional opportunities. A practical example of the possibilities offered was demonstrated by the use of a bacterial gene to modify a plant to produce a biodegradable plastic at levels up to 14 percent of the dry weight of the plant’s leaves. Basic research leading to this example was made possible by the DOE Energy Biosciences program. Plant-produced products can also provide the chemical industry with much greater diversity than available from the comparatively limited structures found in crude oil.

Examples of transgenic plant oils in commercial production include high-lauric acid canola which can be used in a variety of applications including specialty foods and soap and detergent manufacture. A transgenic soybean variety has very low saturated fatty acids and more nutritional unsaturated fatty acids. Such oils are both healthier for human consumption and are extremely stable making them useful as biodegradable lubricants.

The lab of Michigan State University Professor John Ohlrogge, who has been supported by the DOE Energy Biosciences program, is now working to develop plants which will provide the feedstocks for new types of polyurethane, nylon with stronger and more flexible fibers, and biodegradable lubricants. These are not niche markets. The U.S. now produces nylon, polyurethane and other plastics to supply multi-billion-dollar markets. Genetically modified crop plant production of nylon alone could create over $2 billion in new income for American farmers. American farmers will benefit from these enhanced plants because they will have new markets for their products. The American chemical industry will benefit because it will have new structures on which to build improved plastics and other products. American consumers will benefit because more of the nation’s products will be based on renewable and biodegradable resources that do not contribute to landfill overflow or higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The nation would also become less dependent on foreign oil for production of these products.

The Energy Biosciences program is an example of the optimum way basic science can be used to solve some of our country’s most challenging energy and environmental problems. We appreciate the strong support of the Committee for the Energy Biosciences program in past years. ASPP, NCGA and APS respectively urge the Committee to increase support for Energy Biosciences and the Office of Science by 15 percent in Fiscal Year 2002 to help the nation more effectively meet its enormous energy needs.