Taiwan's Feng Chia University has succeeded in boosting the production of hydrogen from biomass to 15 liters per hour, one of the world's highest biohydrogen production rates, a researcher at the university said Friday. The research team managed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide (which can be captured and stored) from the fermentation of different strains of anaerobes in a sugar cane-based liquefied mixture. The highest yield was obtained by the Clostridium bacterium.
Third generation biofuels: scientists patent corn variety with embedded cellulase enzymes
Quicknote energy crops
A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University scientists could turn corn leaves and stalks into products that are just as valuable as the golden kernels. The variety has cellulase enzymes embedded in its leaves. This makes it a crop typical of so-called 'third-generation' bioproducts. These green fuels and products are made from energy and biomass crops that have been designed in such a way that their very structure or properties conform to the requirements of a particular bioconversion process.
An example of such third-generation biofuels are those based on tree crops whose lignin-content (the hard, 'woody' part of plants' cell walls) has been artificially weakened and reduced, and disintegrates easy under dedicated processing techniques. The energy crop grows normally, but is far more easy to transform into bioproducts. Low-lignin hybrid trees (poplars) are being developed by several research organisations, amongst them the laboratory of the father of plant genetic engineering, Marc van Montagu of the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Likewise, the modified corn developed by the MSU scientists is different from the corn from which most US ethanol is currently made. 'First generation' ethanol is derived from the starch contained in the corn kernels only. This is because breaking down the cellulose in corn leaves and stalks into sugars that can be fermented into ethanol remains difficult and expensive.
The MSU scientists however have tricked corn in such a way that it already contains the needed enzymes itself, in its leaves. "We've developed two generations of Spartan Corn," said Mariam Sticklen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences. "Both corn varieties contain the enzymes necessary to break down cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars in their leaves. This will allow for more cost-effective, efficient production of ethanol."
Sticklen will co-chair a panel on energy crops for biofuels at BIO2007, the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which kicks off tomorrow, and present the new variety. "In the future, corn growers will be able to sell their corn stalks and leaves as well as their corn grain for ethanol production," Sticklen said. "What is now a waste product will become an economically viable commodity."
The technique is widely applicable to other energy crops. As soon as details on the qualities of this particular corn variety become available, we will report back [entry ends here].
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: molecular biology :: ethanol :: cellulose :: maize :: corn :: cellulase :: energy crop ::
A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University scientists could turn corn leaves and stalks into products that are just as valuable as the golden kernels. The variety has cellulase enzymes embedded in its leaves. This makes it a crop typical of so-called 'third-generation' bioproducts. These green fuels and products are made from energy and biomass crops that have been designed in such a way that their very structure or properties conform to the requirements of a particular bioconversion process.An example of such third-generation biofuels are those based on tree crops whose lignin-content (the hard, 'woody' part of plants' cell walls) has been artificially weakened and reduced, and disintegrates easy under dedicated processing techniques. The energy crop grows normally, but is far more easy to transform into bioproducts. Low-lignin hybrid trees (poplars) are being developed by several research organisations, amongst them the laboratory of the father of plant genetic engineering, Marc van Montagu of the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Likewise, the modified corn developed by the MSU scientists is different from the corn from which most US ethanol is currently made. 'First generation' ethanol is derived from the starch contained in the corn kernels only. This is because breaking down the cellulose in corn leaves and stalks into sugars that can be fermented into ethanol remains difficult and expensive.
The MSU scientists however have tricked corn in such a way that it already contains the needed enzymes itself, in its leaves. "We've developed two generations of Spartan Corn," said Mariam Sticklen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences. "Both corn varieties contain the enzymes necessary to break down cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars in their leaves. This will allow for more cost-effective, efficient production of ethanol."
Sticklen will co-chair a panel on energy crops for biofuels at BIO2007, the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which kicks off tomorrow, and present the new variety. "In the future, corn growers will be able to sell their corn stalks and leaves as well as their corn grain for ethanol production," Sticklen said. "What is now a waste product will become an economically viable commodity."
The technique is widely applicable to other energy crops. As soon as details on the qualities of this particular corn variety become available, we will report back [entry ends here].
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: molecular biology :: ethanol :: cellulose :: maize :: corn :: cellulase :: energy crop ::
posted by Biopact team at 1:34 AM
2 Comments:
This will become an area of continued interest for investors as the return-on-crop yield (ROY) becomes more important.
Investors will ally themselves with geneticists more and more as we move to a more regionalized model. The ability crops have to maximize their energy output given different environmental constraints and local market energy production methods will determine category winners.
I comment regularly on the business/investor side of alternative energy on Energy Spin: Alternative Energy Blog for Investors-Served Daily
Cheers,
Francesco DeParis
Likewise, the modified corn developed by the MSU scientists is different from the corn from which most US ethanol is currently made. 'First generation' ethanol is derived from the starch contained in the corn kernels only. This is because breaking down the cellulose in corn leaves and stalks into sugars that can be fermented into ethanol remains difficult and expensive.
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