Challenging plants
The many uses of plants
Useful plants
Roadmap challenges
Plants already have numerous uses. In the future
there may be many more.
In Chemistry for Tomorrow’s World, the RSC says:
“Global change is creating enormous challenges
relating to energy, food and climate change. It is both
necessary and urgent that action be taken.”
Their uses may be categorised as follows

Food and animal feed

Fuels
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Fibres
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Health products

Dyes and fragrances
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Feedstocks

Construction materials

Environmental enhancement

Phytoextraction and mining
In its Roadmap, the RSC identified priority areas in
which the chemical sciences can support change.
These are
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Energy
Food
Future cities
Human health
Lifestyle and recreation
Raw materials and feedstocks
Water and air
[Full details at:
http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/index.asp]
Plants and the challenges
Challenges
Some examples of linking uses of plants
to the roadmap challenges
Energy
Energy efficiency
Energy conversion and storage
Fossil fuels
Nuclear energy
Nuclear waste
Biopower and biofuels
Hydrogen
Solar energy
Wind and water
Human health
Biomass for processing into biofuels
Potential sources of new therapeutic drugs
Staple crops, e.g. cereals and rice, and more
specialised foods, e.g. fruit and
vegetables
Varied foods for balanced, healthy diets
Food
Agricultural productivity
Healthy food
Food safety
Process efficiency
Supply chain waste
Future cities
Resources
Home energy generation
Home energy use
Construction materials
Mobility
ICT
Public safety and security
Challenges
Food enriched in essential elements
(biofortification)
Natural fibres for textiles and clothing, for
work and leisure
Phytoremediation
Biodegradable packaging
Materials for construction
Feedstocks such as oils, carbohydrates and
resins
Phytoextraction and, perhaps, phytomining
Ageing
Diagnostics
Hygiene and infection
Materials and prosthetics
Drugs and therapies
Personalised medicine
Lifestyle and recreation
Creative industries
Household
Sporting technology
Advanced and sustainable electronics
Textiles
Water and air
Drinking water quality
Water demand
Wastewater
Contaminants
Air quality and climate
Raw materials and feedstocks
Sustainable product design
Conservation of scarce natural
resources
Conversion of biomass feedstocks
Recovered feedstocks
Growing plants to obtain useful products
Plants are grown to obtain, for example, for food, animal feed, fuel, medicines, chemical feedstocks and building
materials. Some are grown just because they look attractive. Whatever the purpose, all plants need the right
conditions to produce good yields of quality plants.
Example: Growing cotton plants to obtain cotton fibres that can be used to make textiles
All plants need
nutrients for healthy
growth.
Cotton bolls
are harvested
and cotton
fibres obtained
from them
Nutrients are
absorbed from soil
water through the
plant’s roots.
Frequently, fertilisers
are used to increase
the quantities of
available nutrients.
Given suitable conditions, seeds germinate and plants grow.
At the right time they are harvested.
Growing plants for phytomanagement
Plants can be used to:
• clean up soil - phytoremediation
• extract substances from the soil - phytoextraction
• and, a growing possibility, to mine metals from the ground - phytomining
phytomanagement
Example: Extracting copper from low grade copper ore and waste from disused copper mines
Plants are harvested,
dried and burned to
produce an ash - a
copper ore.
Copper ore and
waste slowly
dissolve to give a
solution of copper
ions.
Copper is extracted
from the ash by
treatment with, for
example, sulfuric
acid.
Copper ions in soil
water are absorbed
through a plant’s
roots into its stems
and leaves. This is
the same process
by which a plant
takes up nutrients
from the soil.
Copper is obtained
by chemical or
electrolytic reduction
of the copper
solution.
Copper ions are absorbed through the roots and distributed
throughout the plant.
Understanding equilibrium and kinetics
Growing plants
Making and applying fertilisers
Whether it is growing plants to obtain useful
producers from them or growing plants for
phyomanagement, absorption of ions and molecules
from the soil is key.
Plants require essential nutrients to grow well.
Two interfaces are key: soil/water and water/root. At
each, many exchange equilibriums are happening.
Also, numerous chemical equilibriums are happening
in soil water.
Arguably nitrogen is the most important nutrient. It is
made available in various forms, including liquid
ammonia, ammonium salts, nitrates and urea.
soil
roots
ions and
molecules
dissolved in
water
ions and
molecules
dissolved in
water
soil water
Understanding the physiochemical principles
underpinning equilibrium exchanges that happen at
these interfaces and in solution can help us produce
quality crops in high yield and to use plants for
phytomanagement.
Frequently these are provided by fertilisers, applied to
either the soil or to plant foliage.
Chemical equilibrium plays a key part in the
manufacture, for example, of ammonia and nitric
acid.
The reaction of nitrogen with
hydrogen is an example of a
chemical equilibrium:
N2(g) + 3H2(g) ⇌ 2NH3(g)
Energetics and kinetics are also vitally important,
both in the manufacture and the use of fertilisers.
Understanding the physiochemical principles
underpinning these processes enables fertilisers to
be made and applied safely and economically.
Plants and the active challenges
Three of the active challenges
Nine roadmap challenges were identified by the RSC
for immediate action. Three of these have strong
connections with the use of plants to obtain products
and for phytomanagement. They are:
Agricultural productivity
Significantly and sustainably increase agricultural
productivity to provide food, feed, fibre and fuel.
Conservation of scarce natural resources
Developing alternative materials and new recovery
processes for valuable components which cannot be
replaced.
Conversion of biomass feedstocks
Developing biomass conversion technology to
sustainably produce renewable fuels and chemicals.
For more information and to monitor changes to the
active challenges see
http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/a
ctivechallenges.asp
Agricultural productivity
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/food/agriculture/index.asp)
Challenge
Significantly and sustainably increase agricultural
productivity to provide food, feed, fibre and fuel.
The overall challenge has been divided into six more
specific challenges:

Effective farming

Livestock and aquaculture

Pest control

Plant science

Soil science
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Water
Click on the
links to find
out more
about each of
these
challenges
Plants and the active challenges
Conservation of scarce natural resources
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/rawmaterials/naturalresources.asp)
Conversion of biomass feedstocks
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/rawmaterials/biomass.asp)
Challenge
Raw material and feedstock resources for both
existing industries and future applications are
increasingly scarce. We need to develop a range of
alternative materials and along with new processes
for recovering valuable components.
Challenge
Biomass feedstocks for producing chemicals and
fuels are becoming more commercially viable. In the
future, integrated bio-refineries using more than one
feedstock will yield energy, fuel and a range of
chemicals with no waste being produced.
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences

Recovery of metals
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Develop bioprocessing science for producing
chemicals
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Substitute key materials
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New separation technologies
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Novel catalysts and biocatalysts for processing
biomass
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Convert platform chemicals to high value products
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Reduce material intensity
Agricultural productivity
Effective farming
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/food/agriculture/farming.asp)
Livestock and aquaculture
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/food/agriculture/livestock.asp)
Challenge
Minimising inputs and maximising outputs through
agronomic practice.
Challenge
Optimised feed conversion and carcass composition.
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
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Develop rapid in situ biosensor systems that can
monitor soil quality, crop condition and water
availability to pinpoint problems.
Analyse climate change parameters in order to be
able to predict changing conditions for agronomy.
Precision agriculture at the field level.
Engineering tools for on farm practices - e.g. grain
drying, seed treatment and crop handling
•
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•
•
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Develop new vaccines and veterinary medicines
to treat the diseases (old/new/emerging) of
livestock and farmed fish
Aquaculture production for food and industrial use
(including algae)
Understand feed in animals, via nutrigenomics
and bioavailability of nutrients
Formulation engineering for delivery and minor
component release to reduce waste.
Genetic engineering
Genetic analysis for conventional breeding Qualitative Trait Loci (QTL)
Back to Plants and the active challenges
Agricultural productivity
Pest control
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/pri
orityareas/food/agriculture/pest.asp)
Plant science
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/pri
orityareas/food/agriculture/plant.asp)
Challenge
Up to 40 per cent of agricultural productivity would be
lost without effective use of crop protection chemicals.
Agriculture is facing emerging and resistant strains of
pests. The development of new crop protection
strategies is essential.
Challenge
Increasing yield and controlling secondary metabolism
by better understanding plant science.
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
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Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
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New high-potency, more targeted agrochemicals
with new modes of action. These must be safe to
use, overcome resistant pests and environmentally
benign.
Formulation technology for new mixtures of existing
actives, and to ensure a consistent effective dose is
delivered at the right time and in the right quantity
Develop better pest control strategies, including
using pheromones, semiochemicals and
allelochemicals, as well as GM and pesticides
Pesticides tailored to the challenges of specific plant
growth conditions - eg hydroponics
Reduce chemical crop protection strategies through
GM crops
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Understand and exploit biochemical plant signals for
developing new crop defence technologies
Improve the understanding of carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus and sulfur cycling to help optimise
carbon and nitrogen sequestration and benefit plant
nutrition
Understand plant growth regulators
Develop secondary metabolites for food and
industrial use
Understand the impact of nutrients at the macro and
micro level
Exploit the outputs of this understanding using
biotechnology
Nitrogen and water usage efficiency - e.g. drought
resistant crops for better water management
Better yields of components for biofuels and
feedstocks through the use of modern biotechnology
Back to Plants and the active challenges
Agricultural productivity
Soil science
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/food/agriculture/soil.asp)
Water
(http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/roadmap/
priorityareas/food/agriculture/water.asp)
Challenge
Understanding the structural, chemical and
microbiological composition of soil and its interactions
with plants and the environment.
Challenge
Coping with extremes of water quality and availability
for agriculture.
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
Potential opportunities for the chemical sciences
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Develop fertiliser formulations able to improve the
retention of nitrogen in soil and uptake into plants
Optimise farming practices by understanding the
biochemistry of soil ecosystems, for example, the
mobility of chemicals within soil
Improve the understanding of methane oxidation
by bacteria in soil to help in developing methanefixing technologies
Understand soil structure - mechanical properties
of soils and nutrient flow
Low energy synthesis of nitrogen and
phosphorus-containing fertilisers.
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Use grey water in agriculture
Targeted use of water in agriculture (drip delivery)
Back to Plants and the active challenges