Zeynep Madak-Erdogan is one of five University of Illinois professors at the Urbana-Champaign campus to be named University Scholar. The program recognizes faculty excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. 

Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers and policymakers select the feedstocks most suited to meeting goals like reducing production costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and building soil carbon stocks. 

The Illinois farming community is invited to hear about the latest research-based tools and practices this summer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the annual Agronomy Days

Creating fertilizers from organic waste can help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and promote sustainable production. One way of doing this is through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process.

Raw poultry is one of the main causes of Salmonella poisoning, which affects thousands of people in the U.S. every year.

Illinois has made transitioning to clean energy a major priority in recent years with the passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) in 2016 and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021. Both pieces of legislation prioritize an equitable transition, aiming to avoid and address historical wrongdoings associated with environmental injustice.