BioMed Central announces new interdisciplinary Biofuels Journal

Biotechnology for Biofuels will publish research on ways to improve plant and biological conversion systems for biomass fuel production

BioMed Central announced the impending of Biotechnology for Biofuels. The new journal is the first of its kind to focus exclusively on understanding and advancing the application of biotechnology to improve plant and biological conversion systems for production of fuels from biomass. A peer-reviewed, open access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels will begin accepting article submissions this summer.

The journal is being edited by some of the leaders in biofuels research including Charles Wyman, Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Riverside; Chris Somerville, Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University; and Michael Himmel, Team Leader of the Biomolecular Sciences research staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

In recent years governments around the world have responded to the challenges posed by global warming by searching for new ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Many governments, research institutes and private enterprises are investing heavily in the development of improved technologies for production of biofuels as part of a solution to this problem. The biofuels currently in commercial production derive primarily from corn, sugar-cane and plant oils, each of which has its shortcomings. Much research effort is now focused on the development of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. Such cellulosic biofuels have the potential to offer significant economic and environmental benefits if techniques can be developed to produce them cost-effectively.

Biotechnology for Biofuels is being launched to provide a forum for publication of research focused on advances in the development of clean, efficient biofuels. Biotechnology for Biofuels will publish multi-disciplinary, high-calibre, peer-reviewed research, reviews and commentaries on all biotechnological aspects of biofuels research and any related economic, environmental and policy issues. The journal will publish research on a broad range of topics including production of cellulosic biomass, investigations of biomass composition and structure, plant deconstruction, pretreatments, enzymes, fermentations, integrated systems, process design and economics, life cycle studies and other related areas.

Like all of BioMed Central’s journals, Biotechnology for Biofuels will make research immediately available without charge to any reader with Internet access. Articles accepted for publication by the journal will be included in PubMed, PubMed Central and other major indexing services.

“Biofuels research is a multidisciplinary field with the potential to play an important role in addressing global climate change. An open access journal is urgently needed to ensure that researchers, policymakers and the public have access to the latest findings.” said Prof. Somerville. “I am delighted to be working with BioMed Central on Biotechnology for Biofuels – it is the right journal at the right time.”

(Vgl. Nachrichten vom 2007-06-25 and 2006-11-07.)

Source

BioMed Central, Pressemitteilung 2008-04-16.

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