U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson visited UMR today to hear about research into renewable, economical and environmentally-friendly biofuels. UMR is conducting research on microalgae (more info on algae as a potential source of oil here and here) and jatropha in addition to other sources of biodiesel. Above, Emerson got a demonstration of how smokescreens could potentially be deployed/employed on the battle field. This is a small jet engine that is normally produced for high-tech model jet airplanes. A UMR graduate student is running the engine on biofuel to produce smoke that doesn't harm humans or the environment. Among the other topics covered during Emerson's visit was power generation at Fort Leonard Wood. The idea is to generate power at some point in the future using the surrounding forest as fuel. Since the forest needs to be periodically thinned out anyway -- why not use some of the wood for energy?