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Climate concerns ignite search for next-gen energy

Emily Heaton says clean energy from the 12-foot tall miscanthus she grows at an Iowa State University farm can help cut the carbon that’s warming the planet.

"I should be able to start my truck or turn on my lights at home, and it makes the air cleaner," said Heaton, a 37-year-old agronomy professor who is researching how to use perennial grasses to cost-effectively generate electricity and fuel.

At Caltech, 30-year-old Sonja Francis searches for a catalyst that will turn sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a fuel that can power our cars, trucks and other vehicles. "There was a time when we couldn’t fly airplanes. We didn’t have cars," Francis said. "What seems impossible won’t always remain impossible."

Or maybe the next generation of energy will come from river or ocean tides, from "windmills" floating 2,000 feet high in the sky, or from spent nuclear waste. Or the answer might lie with removing carbon from the air and reusing it.

Donnelle Eller, The Des Moines Register

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/01/08/climate-concerns-ignite-search-next-gen-energy/78386470/

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