Engineered bacteria could produce biobased gasoline

Biomass Magazine

By Wyss Institute | June 28, 2013

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New fuels proposed, from deepwater bacteria

Biofuels Digest
Thomas Saidak October 18, 2011

In Massachusetts, researchers at Harvard Medical School are working to use a deepwater bacteria to create octanol, which can be refined into a number of transportation fuels.

The bacteria, Shewanella oneidensis, which produces electricity when feeding on carbon poor foods. The researchers hope to reengineer the bacteria so that with electricity and carbon dioxide, the bacteria would produce octanol. The work is funded under one of thirteen ARPA-E as an “electrofuel”. At this stage of the research, the researchers are working to produce a proof of concept.

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Chu's message for Caltech grads

KnoxNews.com blogs

Energy Secretaty Steven Chu today delivered the commencement address at Caltech. Here's an excerpt from his prepared text:

"As we begin to lay the foundation for a sustainable energy future, we can frame the challenge, but the real answers will come from you. As our future science and engineering leaders, take the time to learn more about what's at stake, and then act on that knowledge with your considerable intellectual horsepower."

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Harvard Sustainability Science Program Issues "Biofuels and Sustainable Development" Report

Harvard Sustainability Science Program Issues "Biofuels and Sustainable Development" Report

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Harvard and SunEthanol, Inc. announce collaboration to advance biofuels research

CheckBiotech.com
June 13, 2008

CAMBRIDGE and AMHERST, Mass. - Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development and SunEthanol, Inc., a biofuels technology company, announced yesterday that they have entered into a new research collaboration agreement to further advance a promising approach for deriving ethanol from biomass.

Under the collaboration, Harvard Medical School researchers will work to develop new genetic strains of a proprietary natural bacterium that SunEthanol is using to convert cellulose into ethanol. SunEthanol is developing the “Q Microbe” – which a member of its team discovered near the Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts – to produce ethanol from a variety of plentiful biomass feedstocks, including switchgrass, corn stover, wheat straw, sugar cane bagasse, and wood pulp.

Importantly, none of these sources of biomass would be diverted from the food supply, addressing a major limitation to the current use of corn to produce ethanol. In addition, using a microbe to break down cellulose, free fermentable sugars, and convert them to ethanol is an efficient process that promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% or more over gasoline.

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