Unusual Microbe Engineered to Convert Grass Into Gas

Sciencemag.org


By 

Robert F. Service 

Monday, June 2, 2014 - 3:15pm


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Torrefaction: Pre- or Post-Pelletization

Biomass Magazine

By Shahab Sokhansanj | October 07, 2013

 

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Israel’s Top BioEnergy Researchers Are Arriving Today at Oak Ridge National Laboratory For Deliberations to Establish U.S.-Israel Collaboration

Digital Journal

PRWEB.COM Newswire

Oak Ridge, TN (PRWEB) April 21, 2013

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DOE funds Bioenergy Research Centers for additional 5 years

Ethanol Producer Magazine

By Erin Voegele | April 04, 2013

 

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The US Renewable Fuel Standard works, says new academic study

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane
February 4, 2013   Read more

Science Daily

‘Zoomable’ Map of Poplar Proteins Offers New View of Bioenergy Crop


Jan. 29, 2013

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Bacterial research at ORNL could aid biofuel production

Oak Ridge Today
Posted at 11:19 am July 5, 2012 by John Huotari

The identification of key proteins in a group of heat-loving bacteria by researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center could help light a fire under next-generation biofuel production.

Scientists have long been on the hunt for cost-effective ways to break down complex plant material such as switchgrass in order to access sugars that are fermented to make biofuels. Conventional processes involve the addition of commercially produced enzymes to break down the cellulose.

BESC scientists are exploring alternative options, including the use of certain bacteria that are naturally capable of deconstructing plant biomass in their environment.

To better understand the mechanisms behind this microbial ability, a team of researchers from North Carolina State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Georgia analyzed the genomes of eight species of bacteria from the genus Caldicellulosiruptor. These bacterial species, found in globally diverse sites from New Zealand to Iceland to Russia, can degrade plant biomass at extremely high temperatures.

“Earlier, we had found that not all members of this group were able to equally degrade cellulose as others were,” said NCSU’s Sara Blumer-Schuette. “The main aim of this project was to figure what the true determinants were for strongly celluloytic bacteria from this genus—what made them celluloytic versus the others.”

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Wood chips - tons of them - to power lab's new heating system

Chicago Tribune Business
Bob Fowler
Knoxville News Sentinel
6:20 a.m. CDT, May 4, 2012

OAK RIDGE — Smoldering wood chips in oxygen-starved chambers will be used to generate steam heat for most of the buildings at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The new energy-efficient process also provides a market for low-grade wood that loggers would otherwise leave on the forest floor, officials said.

The cutting-edge biomass gasification plant replaces four worn-out boilers that were 64 years old and were first powered by coal and later, natural gas.

The new $60 million system will create enough steam heat to power the equivalent of 18,000 homes, said Bob Baugh, director of the lab's utilities division.

At the lab, it'll heat about 100 buildings and serve other uses such as sterilizing autoclaves.

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ORNL team points path to 30X improvement in enzyme function for biofuels

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane April 18, 2012

In Tennessee, a team led by Pratul Agarwal of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered that light of specific wavelengths can be used to boost an enzyme’s function by as much as 30 fold, potentially establishing a path to less expensive biofuels, detergents and a host of other products.

The researchers introduced a light-activated molecular switch across two regions of the enzyme Candida antarctica lipase B, or CALB – which breaks down fat molecules — identified through modeling performed on DOE’s Jaguar supercomputer.

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Oak Ridge researchers identify key gene; could streamline biofuels production

By Staff reports
The Oak Ridger
Posted Aug 11, 2011 @ 05:48 PM

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A team of researchers at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center, which is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have reportedly pinpointed the exact, single gene that controls ethanol production capacity in a microorganism. This discovery could be the missing link in developing biomass crops that produce higher concentrations of ethanol at lower costs.

"The Department of Energy relies on the scientific discoveries of its labs and research centers to improve the production of clean energy sources," Energy Secretary Steven Chu stated in a news release issued late Thursday afternoon. "This discovery is an important step in developing biomass crops that could increase yield of ethanol, lower production costs and help reduce our reliance on imported oil."

The discovery of the gene controlling ethanol production in a microorganism known as "Clostridium thermocellum" will mean that scientists can now experiment with genetically altering biomass plants to produce more ethanol. Current methods to make ethanol from a type of biomass found in switchgrass and agricultural waste require the addition of expensive enzymes to break down the plant's barriers that guard energy-rich sugars. Scientists, including those at BESC, have been working to develop a more streamlined approach in which tailor-made microorganisms produce their own enzymes that unlock the plant's sugars and ferment them into ethanol in a single step. Identifying this gene is a key step towards making the first tailor-made microorganism that produces more ethanol.

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New route to high-yield ethanol fermentation: ionic solids

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane June 26, 2011

In Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports that ionic liquids have emerged as promising new solvents capable of disrupting the cellulose crystalline structure in a wide range of biomass feedstocks. Such biomass is of particular interest as a renewable and sustainable source of fuels and chemicals, and the crystallinity of the cellulose is one of the major obstacles to fermentation and yields.

Recently, researchers at ORNL pretreated four different feedstocks — microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel), switchgrass, pine, and eucalyptus — with an ionic liquid and found such pretreatment results in a loss of cellulose crystalline structure and the transition of the feedstock surface from cellulose I to the more readily digested cellulose II.

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Unlocking the structure of lignin, and feasible pathways to cellulosic conversion

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane June 16, 2011

Research from ORNL reveals new details of bioenergy’s most daunting technical barrier

“You can make anything out of lignin, except money.” – old industry saying

Lignin, for those newer to the biofuels world, is a complex chemical compound that makes veggies, plants and wood firm, confers resistance to pests, and provides the skeletal strength to enable plants to reach up to the sun for energy.

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Neutrons, simulations reveal details of bioenergy barrier

R&D Magazine
Thursday, June 16, 2011

A first of its kind combination of experiment and simulation at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing a close-up look at the molecule that complicates next-generation biofuels.

Lignin, a major component of plant cell walls, aggregates to form clumps, which cause problems during the production of cellulosic ethanol. The exact shape and structure of the aggregates, however, have remained largely unknown.

A team led by ORNL's Jeremy Smith revealed the surface structure of lignin aggregates down to 1 A. The team's findings were published in Physical Review E.

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Research Finds Key Plant Traits Lead to Cheaper Biofuels Production

EthanolMarket.com Researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR), Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have found that the amount and composition of lignin in a plant’s cell wall interact in an unanticipated way to influence the release of sugar from the plant. This clue is helping researchers from the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) narrow down a large collection of poplar tree candidates and identify winners for future use in biofuel production. Read more

'Fingerprints' match molecular simulations with reality

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 22, 2011 — A theoretical technique developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is bringing supercomputer simulations and experimental results closer together by identifying common "fingerprints."

ORNL's Jeremy Smith collaborated on devising a method -- dynamical fingerprints --that reconciles the different signals between experiments and computer simulations to strengthen analyses of molecules in motion. The research will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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New lignin ‘lite’ switchgrass boosts biofuel yield by more than one-third

ScienceBlog
February 14, 2011

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 14, 2011 — Bioethanol from new lines of native perennial prairie grass could become less costly because of plant engineering by The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and fermentation research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe their transgenic version of switchgrass as one that produces about one-third more ethanol by fermentation than conventional switchgrass. This improved plant feedstock will be able to generate more biofuel per acre, benefiting not only the transportation sector but also the growers and farming community.

“Recalcitrance, or a plant’s natural defenses against insects, fungus and the weather, is widely acknowledged as being the single biggest barrier to the production of biofuel and biochemicals from switchgrass and other lignocellulosic materials,” said Jonathan Mielenz, a co-author and member of the Department of Energy lab’s BioEnergy Science Center.

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New DOE Bioenergy Web Site Has ORNL Roots

Newswise.com
Released: 1/24/2011 10:40 AM EST
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Newswise — Policy makers, industry, researchers and the public have a new way to gain and share information about biofuels with the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework, or KDF, developed by a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and sponsored by the Department of Energy.

The new site (https://bioenergykdf.net/) provides a wealth of information ranging from reports, technical data and a list of experts to the nearest refinery or ethanol fueling station, said Budhendra Bhaduri of ORNL’s Geographic Information Science and Technology group and the principal investigator of the project.

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BIODIESEL -- Ultrasonic remedy . . .

Physorg.org
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
December 1st, 2010

A significant barrier to greater use of biodiesel could be blasted away with a proprietary approach developed by a team of researchers led by Mike Kass of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Energy and Transportation Science Division. By using a high-intensity dose of ultrasonic energy, Kass and colleagues have demonstrated that they can remove or prevent the formation of precipitates, or solids, in biofuels. "Biodiesel forms invisible precipitates at temperatures approaching 41 degrees Fahrenheit," Kass said. "These precipitates cause plugging of filters and lines and are one of the leading concerns associated with expanded use of biodiesel." Co-inventors are Sam Lewis and Maggie Connatser.

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The next carbon capture tool could be new, improved grass

PhysOrg.com
October 26, 2010 by Dan Krotz

(PhysOrg.com) -- A blade of grass destined to be converted into biofuel may join energy efficiency and other big-ticket strategies in the effort to reduce atmospheric carbon -- but not in the way that you might think.

In addition to offsetting fossil-fuel emissions, a potential bioenergy plant such as the grass Miscanthus could also snare carbon from the atmosphere and trap it in the soil for millennia.

Sounds promising. But should scientists genetically engineer bioenergy crops to be better at ridding the atmosphere of the greenhouse gas? And can this strategy take place on the scale needed to mitigate climate change?

These questions are framed in a new analysis by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Christer Jansson and researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their research, published in the October issue of Bioscience, explores ways in which bioenergy crops can become a big player in the drive to rein in rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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RFA: DOE Researchers Find Indirect Land Use Change Impact Minimal to Zero

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: October 20, 2010

Washington—The unproven notion that expanded U.S. ethanol production means new acres around the world must be brought into cultivation is taking another blow.

In a soon-to-be published paper, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory conclude that indirect land use change (ILUC) resulting from expanded corn ethanol production over the past decade has likely been “minimal to zero.”

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