Enerkem Inc. recently announced its agreement with Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute (SMDERI) to develop a project and jointly build a waste-to-biofuels facility in China.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Donghan Jin, President of Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute, and Mr. Vincent Chornet, President and CEO of Enerkem. This was made in the presence of the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Philippe Couillard, as part of the Quebec's trade mission in China.

 "We are honored to be working with such a distinguished group. Combining SMDERI'S expertise in equipment manufacturing and fuel ethanol distribution with our own strength in the conversion of waste to ethanol will create powerful synergies," said Vincent Chornet.

The Agricultural Research Service's Bioenergy Research Unit in Peoria has been focused on studies involving the feedstock switchgrass.

Chemical engineer Bruce Dien evaluated two different switchgrass varieties harvested at three different points in plant development and then pretreated with diluted ammonia. Chemist Michael Bowman led a separate study that focused on xylan levels at three different stages in switchgrass development to see if xylan structures change as the plant matures.

In another study, molecular biologist Ron Hector determined the microorganisms needed to convert xylose to ethanol. Scientists already know that the enzyme "D-xylose isomerase," or XI, is one of several enzymes required to convert xylose into ethanol. But, to date, it has been difficult to harness XI's conversion potential due to the difficulty of expressing XI in yeast strains.

Policies supporting biodiesel production would win if they were on the ballot in next week's elections, according to a U.S. nationwide survey.

Three out of four voters support a tax incentive for biodiesel while seventy-six percent said they support a national renewable fuel standard (RFS). The survey, conducted by Moore Information Opinion Research, included 1,200 registered voters.

"These numbers reflect overwhelming public support for developing cleaner, alternative fuels so that we're not so dangerously dependent on petroleum," said Anne Steckel, NBB's vice president of federal affairs. "These policies are popular because they are effective. We're gradually reducing our dependence on oil. We're reducing harmful and costly pollution. And we're creating jobs and economic activity at home. Congress and the Obama administration should take cues from the people who elected them and step up to make sure we have strong, stable policies supporting biodiesel production."

Jatropha curcas is a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. However, it is susceptible to the geminivirus Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) which severely limits productivity. Hence, the development of virus-resistant J. curcas is crucial. A team led by Nam-Hai Chua, from Rockefeller University, generated transgenic J. curcas plants that expresses an RNA homolog of the key genes of ICMV strain DNA-A, which silenced the viral genes, conferring ICMV resistance.

The efficacy and heritability of resistance was evaluated after two rounds of inoculation to prove that the progeny of transgenic plants were resistant to an ICMV strain. PCR analysis showed that transgenic lines had virus resistance. These transgenic J. curcas plants may now be used in various breeding programs.

Biodiesel processing from microbial lipids using cheap plant feedstock has gained attention. Endophytic bacteria from oleaginous plants are possibly capable of accumulating lipids. However, few studies have been reported of endophytic bacteria isolation and their lipid production using plant extracts.

Liming Xia from Zhejiang University, and a team of researchers isolated a new endophyte Bacillus subtilis HB1310 from the thin-shelled walnut. This strain effectively accumulated lipids using cotton stalk extract as substrate. Batch fermentation was conducted in a bioreactor with optimum conditions and obtained a maximum lipid productivity of 2.3 g/L, lipid content of 39.8% (w/w), and cell dry weight (CDW) of 5.7 g/L, after 48 h. The fatty acid profile of the produced lipids indicates that this strain may be suitable for biodiesel production.

The results showed that the new endophytic bacterium is capable of producing high amounts of lipid rapidly using cotton stalk extract. It products are also suitable for biodiesel production.

Yarrowia lipolytica, a species of yeast, is capable of converting glucose into lipids. However, it lacks the enzymes to break down cellulose and cannot utilize biomass directly. The potential of Y. lipolytica as a bioprocessing strain was investigated by the team of Hui Wei, Wei Wang and Min Zhang from National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States. The team engineered critical cellulases from Trichoderma reesei into Yarrowia for it to function as a consolidated bioprocessing strain.

Yarrowia expressed T. reesei endoglucanase II (EGII) and cellobiohydrolase (CBH) II. However, the cellulase T. reesei CBHI was found incompatible to Yarrowia. This forced them to evaluate alternative CBHI enzymes. Among the enzymes evaluated, the T. reesei-Talaromyces emersonii (Tr-Te) chimeric CBHI showed activity comparable to T. reesei CBHI. It also showed synergism with EGII and CBHII in degrading cellulosic substrates.

This study shows the first case of successful expression of a chimeric CBHI in Y. lipolytica, and proves that Y. lipolytica can be genetically engineered to directly convert lignocellulosic substrates to biofuels.