BIOFUELS SUPPLEMENT
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A bi-weekly summary of world developments on biofuels, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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January 12, 2007
In This Issue:
News and Trends
- New Study Highlights Low Input High Diversity Grassland Perennials as Better Biofuel Feedstocks
- Alternative Genetic Engineering Approach for Obtaining High-Ethanol Tolerant/High-Ethanol Fermenting Yeasts
Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Production
- Weed in Soybean Fields May Be a Potential Biodiesel Resource
- Microbial Biodiesel from Glucose and Oleic Acid Using Engineered E. coli
Biofuels Processing
- Researchers Explore Novel Microbial Cocktails to Condition Corn Stover for Ethanol Fermentation
- Ultrasonic Treatment Promotes Release of Corn-Sugars for Ethanol Fermentation
Biofuels Policy and Economics
- Technoeconomic study forecasts trends in biofuel technologies
- Report Analyzes Africa’s Biofuel Potential
* NEWS AND TRENDS *
New Study Highlights Low Input High Diversity Grassland Perennials as Better Biofuel Feedstocks
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5805/1598
A research team at the University of Minnesota has released a new study after its publication on the life-cycle accounting assessments of corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel as viable fuel alternatives (Biofuels Supplement 2006 November 24). In the new study, “Low Input High Diversity” (LIHD) plants have been identified as a third major class of biomass sources for biofuel production. (The first two major classes are (a) monoculture crops on like corn, soybean, sweet sorghum, etc, and (b) waste biomass like straw, baggasse, corn stover, etc).
Published in the 2006 December issue of the journal Science, the study shows that biofuels produced from LIHD native grassland perennials provide the following benefits: (1) more usable energy and net energy gain per hectare compared to corn ethanol, (2) net carbon-negative biofuel product (i.e., reduces greenhouse gases), in contrast with corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel which are “carbon-sources” (net increase in greenhouse gases, but lower than fossil fuels), (3) reduction of agricultural inputs (i.e., agrochemicals) compared with food-based biofuels, (4) utilization of abandoned, non-productive lands, thereby avoiding competition for fertile lands normally used for food production. The paper provides quantitative data related to the above benefits.
(Abstract of research article and link to conditional access to full paper: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5805/1565?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=
&fulltext=yeast+ethanol+MIT&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
Related articles:
http://aiche.confex.com/aiche/2006/techprogram/P62960.HTM
http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/678/2/
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have reported the successful engineering of a high-ethanol fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with improved glucose/ethanol tolerance, by a technique called “global transcription machinery engineering (gTME)”.
Reported in the September issue of Science, the authors described global transcription machinery engineering (gTME) as “an approach for reprogramming gene transcription to elicit cellular traits (phenotypes) that are important for technological applications”. By using this approach, the researchers obtained a high-ethanol tolerant yeast strain which could ferment glucose to ethanol that is 50% higher than normal yeast. The method, the authors report, can “provide a route to complex phenotypes that are not readily accessible by traditional methods”.
Research article: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2006/061101.htm?pf=1
Related articles:
http://www.biofuelsjournal.com/articles/Winter_Weed_Pennycress_Could_Find_Use_as_Biodiesel_Feedstock_____11_07_2006-38858.html
http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/598/2/
http://power.wisconsin.gov/newsletter/index.html#9
Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is an annual winter weed in soybean fields that farmers in the Midwestern United States find little use of. However, this plant may soon be of value, due to research efforts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR). The research team, headed by Terry Isbell, reports the following characteristics of pennycress seeds which make it a potential source for biodiesel: (a) an oil content of 36% to 40%, and (b) a long chain fatty acid profile comparable to well known biodiesel sources like soybean or sunflower oils. By treating pennycress as another crop rather than a weed, the researchers noted that farmers would be able to produce fuel in the winter from pennycress and food in the summer from soybeans.
Isbell and his team are doing pilot scale conversion of pennycress oil to biodiesel and will subsequently analyze the characteristics of the fuel product.
A summary of two reports related to the analysis of Africa’s biofuels potential can be read at the Biopact website. Biopact is an organization of European and African citizens whose efforts are channelled toward the establishment of a “mutually beneficial 'energy relationship' based on biofuels and bioenergy”.
The summary is based on the analysis by the Copernicus Institute at the University of Utrecht. The calculation of the biofuel potential was based on some factors such as “demographic trends, the demand for food, fiber and wood products, and changes in land-use patterns.” Among the findings of the report were: (a) sub-Saharan Africa has the largest energy potential (estimated maximum is about 410 x 1018 joules of energy), (b) under a high productivity scenario, the biofuel production potential of the planet is said to be several times larger than the total amount of energy that can be obtained from both fossil fuels and nuclear power, (c) Africa still stands to become a large biofuels producer, even when the worst-case climate change predictions are taken into account