Plants, microbes, biofertilizers and biofuels

气候变化可能是人类有史以来面临的最大环境挑战。应对全球气候变化的解决方案之一是更多地依赖生物和经济上有效的生物燃料。从油料作物(如油菜、油菜籽、大豆)中提取的生物柴油是最有前途的生物燃料之一。尽管北美非常重视从玉米和小麦中提取的生物乙醇，但如果不解决种植这些作物所需的投入(特别是氮肥)所产生的温室气体排放问题，生物乙醇所节省的温室气体将微乎其微。利用共生菌通过生物固氮向植物提供氮素，在改良某些作物作为生物燃料生产原料方面具有很大的潜力。

Climate change maybe the greatest environmental challenge ever faced by humankind. Amongst the solutions to address global climate change is a greater reliance on biologically and economically effective biofuels. Biodiesel derived from oilseed crops (e.g. canola, rapeseed, soybean) is one of the most promising biofuels. Although much emphasis in North America is paid to bioethanol derived from corn and wheat, without addressing the greenhouse gas emissions derived from the inputs required to grow these crops (especially nitrogen fertilizer), greenhouse gas savings from bioethanol will be marginal. Utilization of symbiotic bacteria which can supply nitrogen to plants through biological nitrogen (N) fixation has great potential for improving some crop plants as feedstock for biofuel production.