Carbon dioxide gives soda its fizz and champagne its sparkle. But increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to human activities can cause the Earth to warm and oceans to acidify at alarming rates.

Scientists have long sought to find clean, green alternatives to fossil fuels like gasoline, which exacerbate the carbon dioxide problem, and biofuels — fuels derived from biological resources such as plants or plant biomass — are considered a renewable solution.