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Princkly pears and tobacco are farmed in drylands to produce bio-ethanol 

The TBF (Technology-based Firm) Almeria Albaida Recursos Naturales y Medioambiente, S.A. (Spain), and the Cajamar Foundation participate in the national project for Research and Development of Ethanol for Automotive Applications (I+DEA). The purpose of this team of experts relies in the study and testing of the feasibility of two crops adapted to extreme environmental conditions - prickly-pears and tobacco tree - for the production of bio‑ethanol in semiarid areas where there is no competition for the use of raw materials for food purposes or for farmland.

In particular, the tasks of the Almeria scientists are embodied in the sub-project of Energy crops for use in current technologies for bio-ethanol production, focusing on research of bio-ethanol production alternatives in semiarid areas. There, the experts are involved in the research and testing of the feasibility of the prickly-pear (Opuntia ficus indica) and the tobacco tree (Nicotiana glauca). These two species are perfectly adapted to conditions of extreme water shortage and at the same time these plants have high energy biomass due to the fermentation process of their organic matter.

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