Pumping your car full of fuel and the portobello mushrooms at your grocery store, until now, had very little to do with each other. Thanks to a discovery by a Plant Scientist from Montana State University named Gary Strobel, however, the future of fuel could lie in the field of fungi.

Strobel discovered a fungus living inside trees in the Patagonian rain forest that creates a new type of diesel, one with strong similarities to the diesel that we use for fuel in many vehicles. While the diesel-producing aspect of the fungus is important, scientists are especially excited by the way in which this particular fungus can both break down cellulose and synthesize the liquid fuel; meaning, in essence, that a time-draining and chemical-heavy process could be shortened by an entire step, a step that has been an obstacle in creating truly environmentally-friendly sustainable fuel sources from elements like corn. Click here to read more

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