Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE) is a research project that is discovering ways to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by engineering crops to fuel the future.
The ROGUE project is engineering two of the most productive American crops—energycane and Miscanthus—to create an abundant and sustainable supply of oil that can be used to produce biodiesel, biojet fuel, and bioproducts.
By achieving our objectives, ROGUE crops could generate as much as 15 times more oil per acre than soybeans, which currently produce more than half our nation’s biodiesel. This abundant source of bio-oil could theoretically replace up to 80 percent of U.S. diesel consumption.
ROGUE is a continuation of the work from the research project Plants Engineered to Replace Oil in Sugarcane and Sweet Sorghum (PETROSS). Today, the ROGUE project is supported by a $10.6 million grant from the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy. This work is led by the University of Illinois in partnership with Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Florida, and Mississippi State University. Together, these institutions are bringing us one step closer to a future fueled by plants.
For more information or to learn how you can support this work, please contact ROGUE Project Manager Yun Li at yunl68@illinois.edu or 217-300-6086.
