Just curious. A few years back "The Mother Earth News" had an article about using the bacteria clostridia thermocellum to break down cellulose into sugars and then fermenting it into alcohol. Anybody know of anyone using this process? Ken --- MH <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Legal Eagle wrote: > > > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,1356250,00.html > > > Thanks Luc, interesting -- > > 'Transport is a potential horror story for Europe,' > Wiktor Raldow, head of renewable energy for the > European Commission, told a bio-energy conference > in Sweden last week. 'We are > 98 per cent reliant on oil, > 70 per cent of it imported. > We have to find alternatives - and quickly.' > > > Forget the tiger. > Put some mushrooms in your tank > Gene scientists turn waste into fuel for Europe's > cars > Robin McKie, science editor > Nov 21, 2004 > The Observer > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,1356250,00.html > > Where there's muck, there's gas. Scientists have > created > genetically modified yeasts and fungi that can turn > agricultural > waste into fuel for cars and trucks. In future we > may take to the > roads in vehicles powered by left over plant > remains. > > The technology - created with European Union money > - uses > corn stubble and other farm waste as basic > ingredients for > making ethanol. This can then be used as a > substitute for petrol. > > This project has been hailed by researchers and > politicians > because it could help Europe make major cuts in its > massive oil > import bill. Apart from North Sea oil, which is now > drying up, > nearly all the Continent's oil and petrol is > imported. > > 'Transport is a potential horror story for Europe,' > Wiktor Raldow, > head of renewable energy for the European > Commission, told a > bio-energy conference in Sweden last week. 'We are > 98 per cent > reliant on oil, 70 per cent of it imported. We have > to find > alternatives - and quickly.' > > The project uses biomass, organic matter from > plants. Sources > include wood, crops, and agriculture and forestry > waste. > Traditionally, they have been burnt as a fuel or > just to get rid of > them, though corn stubble is now ploughed into the > ground in > the UK because of the impact of burning on the > environment. > > 'We can no longer afford to waste our biomass,' > said project > scientist Professor Lissa Viikari, of the VTT > Technical Research > Centre of Finland. 'Brazil makes 150,000 million > litres of fuel by > fermenting sugar cane [so] reducing the country's > dependence > on oil. Europe has to match that.' > > But European crops are far harder to turn into > ethanol than sugar > cane. Corn stubble and wood from willow and spruce > trees are > rich in chemicals such as cellulose, and these are > hard to break > down during fermentation. To get round this, the > team, based in > Scandinavia, Hungary and Italy, has turned to the > techniques of > gene splicing. > > First, they have added genes to species of common > wild fungi. > 'Fungi make enzymes, chemicals that act like tiny > scissors that > can cut up complex strands of organic material,' > said project > leader Katy Reczey, of Budapest University. 'These > enzymes > are quite good at breaking down cellulose, but not > good enough. > We have improved on nature by splicing extra genes > into fungi > so they make even better enzymes.' > > These 'souped-up' enzymes are used to treat the > corn stubble > and wood, breaking down the cellulose into > fragments that can > be more easily digested by yeast during > fermentation. The team > has also genetically altered the yeasts used to > ferment their > cellulose fragments into ethanol, again boosting > production. > > More than 75 million tonnes of stubble are left > each year from > Europe's harvests. Fermenting it all would create > 250,000 million > litres of ethanol, equal to the world's entire > current production. > > In addition, such fuel does not increase global > warming. The > carbon dioxide released by burning ethanol is > absorbed by the > corn, spruce and willow plants which are grown the > following > year, so the gas is effectively recycled. > > Ethanol is only a partial substitute for petrol, > which can be > diluted by 10 per cent by it. > > The mixture will burn happily in a normal car > engine. 'It may not > seem much but a 20 per cent cut in oil imports > would be a > significant help for Europe,' said Reczey. > > Ethanol: the facts > > · More than five billion litres of ethanol are used > as fuel in > Canada and the US a year, about 1 per cent of the > petrol > volume. > > · All cars made since 1970 can use up to 10 per > cent of ethanol > in their petrol without changes. > > · Henry Ford designed his 1908 Model T to run on > the chemical. > > · It is a depressant that makes people who swallow > it less able > to make responsible decisions. > > · Oscar Wilde said ethanol, 'if taken in sufficient > quantities, > produces the effects of intoxication'. > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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