Microbe can produce biofuel directly from biomass
Monday, 1 February 2010
CALIFORNIA, Jan 31 (Commodity Online): US scientists say they have developed a microbe that can produce an advanced biofuel directly from biomass.
Scientists led by Jay Keasling from the US Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute said using synthetic biology they engineered a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to produce biodiesel fuel and other chemicals derived from fatty acids.
"The fact that our microbes can produce a diesel fuel directly from biomass with no additional chemical modifications is exciting and important." Keasling said. "Given that the costs of recovering biodiesel are nowhere near the costs required to disuntil ethanol, we believe our results can significantly contribute to the ultimate goal of producing scalable and cost effective advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals."
Scientists led by Jay Keasling from the US Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute said using synthetic biology they engineered a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to produce biodiesel fuel and other chemicals derived from fatty acids.
"The fact that our microbes can produce a diesel fuel directly from biomass with no additional chemical modifications is exciting and important." Keasling said. "Given that the costs of recovering biodiesel are nowhere near the costs required to disuntil ethanol, we believe our results can significantly contribute to the ultimate goal of producing scalable and cost effective advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals."