Bioethanol and cyanobacteria

[Christophe]

BMBF supports research on ethanol-producing cyanobacteria

Over the next three years, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will support nearly € 1 million in research on bioethanol production with cyanobacteria, led by the Biology Institute of Humboldt University (Berlin).

Ethanol is already being produced on a large scale in many countries from plant biomass, to be used, for example, as fuel. However, more and more voices are expressing concern about the use of crops such as sugar beet, wheat or rye for biofuel production, mainly because of the shortage and rising food prices. that it could lead to. Thus, cyanobacteria are an interesting option, as the production of cyanobacterial biomass can occur in a small space, including in areas where the cultivation of industrial plants is not feasible.

The work at Humboldt University is part of a larger project that also involves groups of researchers from the Universities of Giessen and Freiburg im Breisgau. All the work is coordinated by biochemist Dan Kramer from the Berlin company Cyano Biofuels GmbH. This young company was created in 2007 by researchers at the Institute of Biology at Humboldt University and has since grown rapidly. Its activities focus on the development and optimization of the use of cyanobacteria for the production of environmentally friendly biofuels.

According to Prof. Thomas Börner, project manager and geneticist at Humboldt University, cyanobacteria are particularly interesting because of their ability to use sunlight for photosynthetic production of energy-rich molecules, as do plants. Normally, cyanobacteria produce only traces of ethanol. University geneticists, in collaboration with biochemists from the Institute of Biology, colleagues in theoretical biology and other partners, wish to better understand the metabolism of energy molecules in cyanobacteria and optimize it in a targeted way , in order to significantly increase bioethanol production of these microorganisms.

http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/ ... /55659.htm

[moinsdewatt]

This subject stands out!

Our Company Joule unlimited raised $ 40 to advance its pilot project in Hobbs, New Mexico.

It is about making ethanol by means of cyanobacteria (it is different from algae) in large water basins in the sun, powered by nutrients and CO2 of industrial origin.

Buh-Bye, Corn Ethanol: Joule Makes The Same Thing From Recycled CO2

May 12th, 2015 by Tina Casey

The biotech company Joule Unlimited has just announced that its unique brand of recycled CO2 ethanol has successfully passed a round of third party testing, bringing it another step closer to commercializing the product in Europe and the US Somewhat coincidentally Joule has just closed a $ 40 million round of financing, which will enable it to expand its flagship plant in Hobbs, New Mexico to commercial scale. The ultimate goal is to convert 150,000 tons of waste CO2 into 25 million gallons of ethanol per year at that facility. If you're starting to hear a loud hammering noise, that would be another nail in the coffin of corn ethanol.

Along with our sister site Gas2.org we started following Joule's solar powered, microbe-assisted recycled CO2 technology in 2009 when the company emerged from "stealth" mode, but we have not really checked into it since 2010. Our bad, since a lot has been happening since then.



Sunlight + Recycled CO2 = Sustainable Ethanol

The basic idea behind recycled CO2 ethanol is to capture CO2 from industrial operations and convert it to liquid fuel. If that sounds like a little space, the US Department of Energy is all over waste gas-to-fuel technology.

Not for nothing, but back in 2010 MIT Technology Review named Joule's "solar fuel" among its top ten list of "most important emerging technologies."

Back then, Joule was working on a pilot recycled CO2 plant in Leander, Texas, which shows how "solar fuel" process works.

Here's how we describe the company's modular, scalable technology:

The heart of the process is the proprietary SolarConverter, which contains photosynthetic organisms in a bath of nutrient brackish water, with carbon dioxide fed in. While the concept is similar to biofuel, there are several significant twists. The organisms are not algae, they are bio-engineered proprietary organisms [cyanobacteria] that produce and secrete fuel without the need for costly fermentation processes, extraction or refinement processes. The system also includes the need to collect and transport large quantities of biomass.

The result is an ethanol that can be blended with gasoline, as Joule has just announced. The technology can also be used to produce diesel fuel, jet fuel, and gasoline among other products.

You can get the nitty gritty details in a 2011 paper titled "A New Dawn for Industrial Photosynthesis" published in the journal Photosynthesis Research. For those of you on the go, here's a couple of snippets from the abstract:

These innovations are projected to operate at a higher rate than those based on the accumulation and refining of plants or algal biomass or on prior assumptions of photosynthetic productivity. This concept, currently operating for the production of ethanol and alkane diesel fuel molecules, and operating at pilot scale, establishes a new paradigm for high productivity manufacturing of nonfossil-derived fuels and chemicals.

In there interests of cost effectiveness, the "free" energy from sunlight is big plus. Also helping things along is the process itself, which is designed as a single step, continuous-throughput system.

Recycled CO2 Ethanol For Your Audi, Anyone?

Specifically, the new recycled CO2 fuel meets the D4806 American Society for Standard Testing and Materials for Fuel Ethanol, and it likewise hits the mark for the EN 15376 German Institute for Standardization.

The certification effort is getting a huge assist from Audi, which is also interested in Joule's "clean diesel" version of recycled CO2 fuel.

Audi has also been ramping up its electric vehicle efforts, so the company seems to be hedging its bets - as much as we love EVs, it looks like liquid fuels are going to be here for the future.

A World Awash In Recycled CO2 Fuel

As for Joule's new $ 40 million round of financing, put the company at $ 200 million for the Hobbs expansion.

The idea is to build in phases, a strategy designed to showcase the scalability of SolarConverter. The company makes an interesting comparison to oil fields:

The catalysts, systems and processes undergoing optimization will be fully validated for future commercial seedlings, representing an entirely new generation of above-ground fuel wells. At full-scale commercialization, 10,000 acre Joule plant will represent a reserve value of 50 million barrels of solar-derived fuel, equivalent to a medium-sized oil field.

The size of the full scale plant is one of a few, but it is a potential to build on brownfields and other pre-developed sites rather than ripping through ecologically valuable landscape.

According to Joule, more than 1,000 sites have already been identified around the world that could be suitable for SolarConverter development. We're thinking about where we are, where recycled CO2 is ripe for picking.

Water resource issues can not be avoided, but the system's reliance on non-potable sources provides a better understanding of the potential for the environment.

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/12/buh ... ycled-co2/