Cornell University Researchers Produce Biofuels from Carbon Monoxide

Cornell University researchers have discovered a strategy to make bioethanol using a microbe feeding on carbon monoxide, a common industrial waste gas.

Synthetic gas, or syngas, fermentation is a promising biotechnological solution for waste management as industries are looking to produce ethanol from their gaseous waste. The scientists found that the bacterium Clostridium ljungdahlii feasts on and then ferments carbon monoxide.

To get the microbe to ferment the carbon monoxide, scientists bubbled it in the growth media solution where the microbes can feed on it. Carbon monoxide gas emitted by heavy industries such as steel production can potentially be used for bioreactors that contain these bacterial cells.