Springer Plant Bioproducts

Among the major challenges facing society today, seeking renewable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and manufactured goods is critically important to reducing society’s dependency on petroleum and tackling environmental issues associated with petroleum use. In recent years there has been considerable research targeted toward the development of plant-derived bioproducts to replace petrochemical feedstocks for both fuel and manufacturing. Plants not only provide a large amount of renewable biomass, but their biochemical diversity also offers many chemical and molecular tools for the production of new products through biotechnology.  Plant Bioproducts is an introduction to the production and application of plant bioproducts, including biofuels, bioplastics, and biochemicals for the manufacturing sector. Contributing authors examine various bioproducts with respect to their basic chemistry, relationship to current petrochemical-based products, and strategies for their production in plants. Chapters cover the integrated roles of agronomy, plant breeding, biotechnology, and biorefining in the context of bioproduct development. Environmental, economic, ethical, and social issues surrounding bioproducts, including the use of genetically modified crops, challenges to food security, and consumer acceptance, are also covered.  From the Back Cover Among the major challenges facing society today, seeking renewable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and manufactured goods is critically important to reducing society’s dependency on petroleum and tackling environmental issues associated with petroleum use. In recent years there has been considerable research targeted toward the development of plant-derived bioproducts to replace petrochemical feedstocks for both fuel and manufacturing. Plants not only provide a large amount of renewable biomass, but their biochemical diversity also offers many chemical and molecular tools for the production of new products through biotechnology.  Plant Bioproducts is an introduction to the production and application of plant bioproducts, including biofuels, bioplastics, and biochemicals for the manufacturing sector. Contributing authors examine various bioproducts with respect to their basic chemistry, relationship to current petrochemical-based products, and strategies for their production in plants. Chapters cover the integrated roles of agronomy, plant breeding, biotechnology, and biorefining in the context of bioproduct development. Environmental, economic, ethical, and social issues surrounding bioproducts, including the use of genetically modified crops, challenges to food security, and consumer acceptance, are also covered.  About the Author Guanqun (Gavin) Chen is an Assistant Professor of Plant Lipid Biotechnology in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Manitoba from May 2017. He is well recognized for his contributions to the development of biotechnological strategies for producing specialty fatty acids and functional oils in microorganisms and plants. He received his Bachelor of biochemical engineering and MMaster of fermentation engineering at Tianjin University of Science & Technology (Tianjin China) and PhD in Plant Biotechnology at The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China), respectively, and served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta before he started his career at the University of Manitoba as an Assistant Professor (2015-2017), where he developed and taught a senior level course Plants for Industrial Uses. Gavin has rich research experience in applied microbiology, molecular biology, and lipid biotechnology and his work has been published in dozens of peer-reviewed papers.  Randall J. Weselake is a Professor Emeritus with the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the Unive