Maverick Synfuels has introduced the first small-scale, modular methane-to-methanol production plant that can be integrated to a methane source. The trademarked Maverick Oasis system allows producers to monetize biogas and natural gas as an alternative to producing electricity.

The gas-to-liquids (GTL) methanol plants are modular, and can be rapidly deployed onsite to produce methanol from natural gas or methane-rich waste gas. Maverick is pursuing opportunities to build and operate the Maverick Oasis platform, and is interested in having discussions with potential partners.

Schott and Algatech signed an agreement to strengthen their partnership following a successful study. Schott's Duran glass tubes significantly improved cultivation yield efficiency of Algatech's AstaPure. Nikolaos Katsikis of Schott and Raz Rashelbach of Algatech will present their results at the Algae Biomass Summit in San Diego.

Algatech sought to optimize cultivation of AstaPure as part of its goal to double production capacity. Schott partnered with Algatech in 2013 to produce thin-walled Duran glass tubes for testing in Algatech's photobioreactor production systems in Israel.

"Further testing and development of new products in partnership with Algatech will allow us to continue finding new ways and methods to improve algae production," added Nikolaos Katsikis, director, business development at Schott Tubing.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to sequence the entire genome of Clostridium autoethanogenum, an anaerobic bacterium used to produce fuel and chemicals from a range of raw materials and industrial wastes. Successful sequencing of the bacterium was vital to the biotechnology industry.

"With the complete genomic sequence, we will have a better understanding of the microbe's metabolism and mutations that will enable LanzaTech to make modifications to the wild-type, or naturally occurring, strain for optimizing the conversion of waste into fuel," said Steve Brown one of the co-authors of the paper, published in Biotechnology for Biofuels.

The project also revealed information about the genetic history of the bacterium through short DNA sequences known as CRISPR systems, which retain genetic mutations that are subsequently passed on to future generations of a microbe. CRISPR systems are important indicators of strengths and vulnerabilities that biotechnology companies look for when genetically modifying a microbe.

GM yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) capable of producing ethanol and other chemicals from agricultural feedstocks are of major interest to the biofuel industry. Swansea University's Diane E. Kelly, and her team, investigated the co-production of ethanol and squalene using S. cerevisiae strain YUG37-ERG1, where the squalene epoxidase (ERG1) is controlled by the doxycycline-repressible tet0 7 -CYC1 promoter. Ethanol and squalene production of YUG37-ERG1 grown using grass juice with doxycycline was assessed.

The tet0 7 -CYC1 promoter allowed the regulation of the expression of ERG1, which resulted in squalene accumulation. The strain fermented ethanol and accumulated the highest squalene content (7.89mg/g dry biomass) in grass juice with 5.) g/mL doxycycline and accumulated its highest yield (18.0mg/L squalene) from grass juice with 0.025 g/mL doxycycline.

This study is the first to utilize S. cerevisiae for the co-production of ethanol and squalene from grass juice. The findings demonstrate the potential to integrate microbial bioprocess engineering with existing agriculture.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass capable of growth on marginal lands and is a potential bioenergy crop. Previous studies reveal the positive effect of inoculation of switchgrass cv. Alamo with the endophyte Burkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN on its growth and development. Jerzy Nowak and Chuansheng Mei from Virginia Tech in USA are studying the utilization of beneficial endophytes in enhancing switchgrass performance on marginal lands.

The team tested the effects of PsJN inoculation of switchgrass seedlings in field experiments conducted over 2 years on highly fertile and on low fertility soil. Inoculation improved the growth of switchgrass seedlings, stimulated plant root and shoot growth, and tiller number on the low fertility soil. It also enhanced biomass accumulation on both soils, but was more effective in low fertility soil. The study suggests the potential use of PsJN and other beneficial bacterial endophytes in the development of low-input switchgrass feedstock.

A major  constraint for sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) as a reliable biofuel feedstock is the fast biomass degradation due to its high soluble sugar content. An efficient way to overcome this could be an on-farm storing system of undistilled ethanol from sweet sorghum juice, while the remaining bagasse could be ensiled for complementary energy generation. Andrea Monti of the University of Bologna in Italy evaluated different harvest methods and storage techniques to develop an efficient on-farm processing system to store sweet sorghum biomass.

Harvesting during the hard dough stage and defoliating the plants before juice extraction resulted in higher ethanol yield. The use of commercially available fructophilic yeasts maximized undistilled ethanol yield and increased on-farm storing to about 1 year. The residual bagasse was ensiled and inoculated with Lactobacillus commonly used in forage conservation which significantly improved its quality as feedstock for biogas fermenters.