USDA-NRCS PLANTS DATABASE, ROBERT H. MOHLENBROCK Researchers from the University of Georgia and at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have engineered the thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii to directly convert switchgrass into ethanol, according to a study published today (June 2) in PNAS. The new approach eliminates the need for expensive chemical and enzymatic treatments required to prepare grasses for ethanol production, potentially easing the way for use of sustainable feedstocks like switchgrass to produce biofuels.
“It’s a novel approach to turning cellulose into ethanol,” said David Tilman, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the study. But the approach is not yet commercially viable, he added: “The alcohol production is way too low, but it’s something that can be worked on and developed.”
“It’s a very well-designed set of experiments that really elucidate the potential of where to go for the next steps,” said Jim McMillan, the chief engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Bioenergy Center in Golden, Colorado.
Ethanol, a liquid biofuel that is mixed into most gasoline in the U.S., can be created from the glucose stored in plants. Most U.S. ethanol comes from the starchy, edible portion of corn, which ...
