Beetle-destroyed pine biofuel developed

A new biofuel being developed by one organisation could see forest resources devastated by pests put to good use.

Cobalt Technologies announced it has developed an energy source using lodgepole pine feedstock ravaged by beetles, with the commercial viability of the product currently being explored.

The company has signed an agreement with Colorado State University to test the biobutanol-based biofuel for its potential.

"With this breakthrough, we've been able to turn a problem into an opportunity," chief executive officer at the business Rick Wilson claimed. "Harvesting beetle-killed trees could produce low-carbon fuels and chemicals."

This may boost the sustainable biorefinery sector in the US state, he added, with many rural areas likely to benefit from job creation.

According to Mr Wilson, affected pine feedstock from Colorado alone could generate two billion gallons of biobutanol.

Vyacheslav Andrianov, a researcher at the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, recently told the Associated Press that tobacco is another substance that could prove to be an important biofuel source of the future.