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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August 14, 2009

In This Issue:

News and Trends
- Sexual Reproduction in Trichoderma reesei to Improve Cellulolytic Microorganisms 
- “Couple Oil Crop Cultivation” Technology for Biodiesel Crop Production 
- Minnesota College Offers Innovative Degree in Renewable Energy 
- Bioenergy Can Replace 30% of Australia’s Petroleum-based Energy by 2025 

Biofuels Processing
- “Rosettazyme”: A Synthetic Cellulosome for Cellulose Ethanol Production 
- New Low-Energy Membrane System Can Replace Distillation Process in Ethanol Production 

Biofuels Policy and Economics
- European Biodiesel Board Report 2008-2009: Resilience in the European Biodiesel Industry 





* NEWS AND TRENDS *

Sexual Reproduction in Trichoderma reesei to Improve Cellulolytic Microorganisms
(scientific article may require paid subscription for complete access) http://www.pnas.org/content/93/15/7755.full.pdf+html?sid=d31224eb-f7dc-4c73-8ad3-4e0d4bc9c224
http://www.livescience.com/environment/090810-ideas-fungus-biodiesel.html
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/4319/scientists-force-fungus-to-breed-to-create-biofuel

The fungus, Trichoderma reesei has long been recognized for its ability to produce large amounts of cellulase enzymes (the enzyme commonly used for cellulose ethanol production). Difficulties in improving Trichoderma reesei for even higher levels of cellulase production stem from the perception that the fungus exhibits an asexual mode of reproduction. "Under the assumption that Trichoderma reesei was asexual, scientists looking to improve the fungus were instead limited to techniques like dosing the fungus with radiation or chemicals in order to alter its genetic profile." This, however, only created random or unpredictable mutations. In contrast, sexual microorganisms are reportedly easier to manipulate artificially for genetic improvement, due to inherent exchange and mix of genetic material. Scientists from the Vienna University of Technology (Austria) have found evidence to show that Trichoderma reesei was genetically identical to another species of fungus, Hypocrea jecorina, which happens to be capable of sexual reproduction." The main difference between the two organisms was that "Hypocrea jecorina seemed capable of assuming both the male and female roles, whereas Trichoderma reesei seemed only capable of assuming the male role." Trichoderma reesei was shown to have the possibility for sexual reproduction. The scientists believe that the findings might lead to better and more cost-effective ways of making biofuels thru cheaper and better cellulases from improved "sexual" Trichoderma strains. Details of the study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (URL above)..

“Couple Oil Crop Cultivation” Technology for Biodiesel Crop Production
http://www.jatrophabiodiesel.org/couple-oil-crop.php
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/04/centre-for-jatropha-promotion-projects-jatropha-yields-of-up-to-545-gallons-per-acre-with-new-combination-oil-crop-cultivation-technology/
http://www.jatrophaworld.org/
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/180/cjp-found-new-couple-oil-crop-cultivation-technology-for-biodiesel-production

The Centre for Jatropha Promotion (CJP) recently announced "a breakthrough in the search for viable alternative feedstocks for biodiesel in combination with Jatropha." According to CJP Director for Plant Science, R.R. Sharma, the Center has been experimenting on different intercropping options, patterns and agro-technologies, in an effort to utilize Jatropha-planted land in a sustainable manner. They focused on searching an inter-crop for Jatropha which: (1) should be oil bearing like Jatropha itself, without competing with it for food and water and (2) should be capable of fulfilling Jatropha fertilizer requirement and still maintaining soil fertility. They were able to finally find the couple crop and termed the technology they developed as "Couple Oil Crop Cultivation (COC) Technology". One hectare of cultivated land using the COC technology is reported to have an oil yield of 1,350 gallons. The commercial cultivation of the couple crop is to be released soon.

Related information: Center for Jatropha Promotion website http://www.jatrophaworld.org/



Minnesota College Offers Innovative Degree in Renewable Energy
http://www.mnwest.edu/in-the-news/mn-west-launches-innovative-energy-degree/
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/05/minnesota-education-system-adds-two-year-degree-in-renewable-energy/

Nine colleges from the Minnesota state colleges and universities (United States) are set to begin a two-year associate "Energy Technical Specialist" degree in the Fall term this year. Said to be the first of its kind in the United States, the course will prepare students to work either in the renewable energy or traditional energy industries. Additionally, a 16-credit certificate program (which can be completed in one semester) in one of four specialties will be offered online: (1) ethanol production, (2) biodiesel production, (3) wind-turbine maintenance, and (4) solar energy assessment. According to the Minnesota West Community and Technical College website, "Students who earn the associate degree will be prepared for work in traditional energy industries, such as in electric generation plants, or they can specialize in a renewable energy field. The core curriculum approach was championed by the industry-led Minnesota Energy Consortium, which helped fund a study that identified the necessary core skills.".

Bioenergy Can Replace 30% of Australia’s Petroleum-based Energy by 2025
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/cpcg/index.php/news/?id=429
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/13/reports-says-australia-could-produce-25-percent-of-its-fuel-from-bioenergy-by-2025-no-competition-with-food-2/

Based on its new analysis of second generation biofuels, Southern Cross University's Centre for Plant Conservation and Genetics (Australia) reports that 30% of Australia's transport energy can be provided with biofuels by 2025. This can be achieved without adverse impacts on food production and biodiversity by using plant materials that are either (1) by-products of plant matter (such as sugarcane bagasse) rather than the edible plant parts, or (2) plants which thrive on marginal grazing land such as eucalypts. According to Centre Director Robert Henry, the construction of 100 conversion facilities, located in rural and regional Australia would also be needed. A well-managed bioenergy program would also generate jobs in the rural and regional communities. According to Professor Henry, "We estimate that between 2015 and 2025, more than 3450 jobs could be created in agriculture and transport, more than 28,000 in the construction of the facilities and more than 16,000 in the ongoing operation of these facilities.".


* BIOFUELS PROCESSING *

“Rosettazyme”: A Synthetic Cellulosome for Cellulose Ethanol Production
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/04/nasa-researchers-assemble-rosettazyme-synthetic-cellusome-potentially-increasing-cellulosic-conversion-efficiency/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01681656

In the production of biofuel ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass, the cellulose molecules are usually broken down ("hydrolyzed" or "saccharified") by enzymes into simple sugars that can be fermented subsequently into ethanol. "Biomass recalcitrance" is the resistance of the cellulose molecules in lignocellulosic biomass to enzymatic hydrolysis, and is often a major bottleneck in the commercialization of cellulose-ethanol production technology. The use of cellulosomes is one research area which attempts to address biomass recalcitrance. The Center for Molecular Biophysics website describes cellulosomes as "large extracellular enzyme complexes that are produced by anaerobic bacteria and can efficiently break down plant cell wall polysaccharides, such as cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin into sugars." Structurally, they consist of a variety of enzymes arranged around a "scaffolding protein". Recently, an international team of scientists reported the construction of a cellulosome where the bound cellulase enzymes were observed to have increased cellulose-degrading ability compared to free enzymes in solution. They called the engineered multi-enzyme structures as "rosettazymes". Details of their study are published in the Journal of Biotechnology (URL above)

Related information on Cellulosomes: http://cmb.ornl.gov/research/cellulosome/cellulosome-design-for-cellulosic-ethanol



New Low-Energy Membrane System Can Replace Distillation Process in Ethanol Production
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/uom-uom080309.php
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/05/researchers-discover-low-energy-membrane-system-to-replace-distillation-in-ethanol-butanol-production/
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;325/5940/590?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Michael+Tsapatsis+
&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Distillation is the common process for the separation and purification of ethanol after fermentation. It is a thermal process which can consume large amounts of energy, and can also contribute significantly to the cost of production. Scientists from the Minnesota Institute of Technology (United States) have developed an energy-efficient (low cost) membrane separation process "that could revolutionize processes in the petrochemical and biofuels industries". The membrane process involves the use of high performance membranes created from crystal sieves (zeolites) by rapid thermal treatment. The rapid heating treatment was made "to remove structural defects in zeolite membranes that limit their performance, a problem that has plagued the technology for decades." According to Program Officer Rosemarie Wesson, of the National Science Foundation (provider of the research grant), the use of membranes rather than energy-intensive processes (such as distillation and crystallization) could have a major impact in the industry." It can also increase energy efficiency in the production of biofuels, like ethanol and butanol..


* BIOFUELS POLICY AND ECONOMICS *

European Biodiesel Board Report 2008-2009: Resilience in the European Biodiesel Industry
http://www.ebb-eu.org/EBBpressreleases/EBB%20press%20release%202008%20prod%202009%20cap%20FINAL.pdf
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/400/eu-biodiesel-industry-shows-resilience

In its latest annual biodiesel production and capacities statistics report (2009=8-2009), the European Biofuels Board (EBB) sums up the performance of the European Union's (EU) biodiesel industry as "resilient", amid unfair international competition and unfavorable market conditions. For the past two years (2007 and 2008), EU biodiesel producers had to compete with "heavily subsidized" and dumped "B99" biodiesel from the United States. The U.S. B99 biodiesel was reportedly sold at a much lower price than raw material soybean oil. Despite this condition, a total of 7.7 million tonnes of biodiesel were produced in the EU in 2008, up 35% from the 2007 figures. Other highlights of the annual report are: (1) the EU stands ready to deliver higher volumes of biodiesel product for the near future, with the installation of production capacities which total almost 21 million liters; (2) the EU member states have been able to create a genuine framework supporting the deployment of biodiesel and biofuels, mainly in the form of mandatory targets; and (3) biodiesel is expected to continue to play a decisive role in the EU's energy supply security. Additional details of the EBB annual biodiesel production report is available at the EBB website..


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