A group of researchers from the University of Montana State has discovered that a type of fungi, called Gliocadium roseum, that can make gaseus biodiesel from vegetal waste. Turning waste into fuel is a key to second-generation biofuels. This fungus has been found on a Patagonian tree called ulmo (Eucryphia cordifolia), and the remarkable quality is that it produces biodiesel in gaseous form. According to Gary Strobel from the Universtiy of Montana, "This is the only organism we've found in the world which is able to do such a thing [...] This gas can potentially make an engine turn." The investigators think that the fungus produces this gas in order to kill competing species, and in its composition they've found alcohols, octanes and esters - all of them part of diesel.
