GAVE
Climate neutral gaseous and liquid energy carriers
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GAVE is a government programme that supports the development and introduction of climate-neutral fuels in the Dutch transport sector.
The programme's most important task is to support the implementation of the European Renewable Energy Directive into Dutch national legislation with respect to biofuels.
This EU Directive states that, by the year 2020, 10% of the energy used in the transport sector must be derived from renewable energy.
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| GAVE news |
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Pretreatment of biomass another step further
Date published: Jul 15, 2010 |
The US Department of Energy has published the genome sequence of various wood-rotting fungi that can break down lignocellulose. The problems concerning this breakdown form one of the greatest barriers to the eventual commercial production of biofuels. Researchers are interested in fungi that cause wood to rot, and can easily convert plant material into fermentable sugars.
Scientists at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) have now discovered the genetic sequences of two types of wood fungi.
Researchers in the Netherlands (Utrecht University) are now studying a third micro-organism, as described in the publication Journal Nature Biotechnology dated 11 July.
In the meantime, the wood-eating fungi known as Schizophyllum commune, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Postia placenta are reasonably well detailed. Both the Postia and S.Commune simply eat through the woody plant material. The fungi break down both the cellulose material and lignin via the plant's xyleem system. This transports water (and the substances dissolved therein) from the roots to the leaves of the plant.
The researchers will now detail all 38.5 million nucleotide (13,200 genes) of the S.Commune fungi. They hope to discover the blueprint for the woodrot responsible for enzyme production. This should allow the discovery of new methods of biofuel production.
The wood-rotting fungi can also be used for bioremediation. This refers to the use of micro-organisms, for example, to purify polluted land or water. The enzymes from the S.Commune family are very powerful, and can even process the cleaning of uranium and heavy metals.
Source: Nature |
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