Halophytes are promising sources for producing biofuel

Abstract

The that the arid regions of Russia and Central Asiatic countries have an inexhaustible potential for the development of the raw materials base of biofuel power engineering is shown: vast territories of yet uncultivated lands, surplus of solar energy, large reserves of saline water, and significant genetic resources of halophytes that are plants with maximum resistance to salt stress. According to the data of experiments, in case of irrigation with saline water, halophytes form 15–18 and more t/ha of dry biomass in the arid regions of Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, which is comparable with lucerne irrigated with fresh water. The task of expanding and deepening the research into the use of halophyte resources for obtaining biofuel in the arid regions of Russia is stated to be urgent.