Bacterial Assistance Makes Biofuel Production More Efficient

A team of researchers led by Daniel Noguera of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have created a process for making the work environment less toxic for the organisms that produce bio-products from cellulosic biomass.

When bacteria convert sugars into ethanol, they run into toxic aromatic compounds, thus slowing down the process. Researchers proposed using Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a bacterium that feeds on the aromatics but not sugars, to make things safer for the other microorganisms, increasing their efficiency. This process offers an advantage over current chemical processes which also removes some glucose.

Their research opens up a promising opportunity for the field of cellulosic biofuels and chemicals production. "Although using cellulosic biomass is better than using corn for ethanol, this technology is still in its early stages, and we still have many opportunities to improve the engineering and the economics of the process," said Noguera.