PASADENA, Calif., March 4 (UPI) -- Debris tumbling from four Martian avalanches has been photographed by U.S. spacecraft orbiting around Mars, NASA reported.

Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who helps target the High Resolution Imaging Experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and has studied hundreds of its images, was the first person to notice the landslides, the space agency said on its Web site.

"It really surprised me," Spitale said. "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years."

The photos were taken Feb. 19 and released Monday.

The camera frequently revisits selected places on Mars to track seasonal changes, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said.

"We don't know what set off these landslides," said Patrick Russell of the University of Berne, Switzerland, a High Resolution Imaging Experiment team participant. "We plan to take more images of the site through the changing Martian seasons to see if this kind of avalanche happens all year or is restricted to early spring."

Latin America could become biofuel player

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 4 (UPI) -- Latin American countries could become major suppliers of ethanol for world markets in the future, an Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory report says.

The ORNL study, part of a larger Department of Energy project, focused on the importance of Brazil's sugarcane industry in world trade in fuel ethanol.

ORNL researchers projected that Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and members of the Caribbean Basin Initiative could produce enough feedstock for more than 30 billion gallons of ethanol annually by 2017.

Researchers said about 40 percent of the projected supply is based on the potential of new technology to produce advanced biofuels from cellulosic feedstock that uses residues and forestry byproducts.

"Current feedstock production, based on traditional crops such as sugarcane, soybeans and palm oil, has the potential to double or triple by 2017 in some cases," said researcher Gbadebo Oladosu.

The results suggest that a larger portion of U.S. fossil fuel imports that now come from Africa and the Middle East could be replaced by the renewable biofuels.

"The potential for future biofuel feedstock production in Latin America offers interesting opportunities for the U.S. and developing nations," ORNL researcher Keith Kline said.

21 grants awarded for biomass research

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- Two U.S. departments said they plan to invest $18.4 million for biomass research, development and demonstration projects over three years.

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy said in a news release Tuesday the projects would address barriers to making production of biomass more cost-effectively and efficiently. Project funding is provided through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint USDA-DOE effort to develop the next generation of clean, bio-based technologies.

The project helps advance the President George Bush's strategy of developing more clean, bio-based products and biofuels to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"These (funds) help fund the innovative research needed to develop technologies and systems that lead to the production of bio-based products and biofuels," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said. "Funding new technologies will help make biofuels competitive with fossil fuels in the commercial market, putting America on the path of reducing its dependence on foreign oil."

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said continued investment in biomass is critical to make available "clean, abundant and domestically produced biofuels for widespread use."

Groups seek more room for bison to roam

HORSE BUTTE, Mont., March 4 (UPI) -- Give bison running room in a cattle-free zone in Montana outside Yellowstone National Park, wildlife advocates and homeowners said.

A coalition of bison advocates and local landowners Tuesday asked federal and state officials to stop catching and killing bison in a cattle-free zone in the Horse Butte area while alternatives to the slaughter are under review, Buffalo Fields Campaign said in a news release.

The letter asked state and federal officials to stop capturing and killing Yellowstone's bison and to initiate a new environmental impact study to assess changes to an Interagency Bison Management Plan in light of the changed circumstances on Horse Butte, which doesn't have cattle-grazing now.

"The government has been killing our nation's last remaining wild bison, claiming it is necessary to prevent the spread of brucellosis to cattle on the Horse Butte Peninsula," said Michael Mease, campaign coordinator for the Buffalo Field Campaign. "There are no more cattle on Horse Butte, so that excuse rings hollow."

Yellowstone bison migrate to Horse Butte, a peninsula jutting into Hebgen Lake, in late winter and spring seeking to forage.