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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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AgentschapNL GAVE
| GAVE news |
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Tropical bacteria reduces biofuel production costs
Date published: May 18, 2012 |
The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has made a breakthrough in the field of biofuel production. It means the continuous conversion of biomass at low temperatures in a single reactor can become a reality.
The researchers have isolated a bacterium that can tolerate ionic liquids. Ionic liquids have a melting point below 100 degrees Celsius. They are organic salts that can liberate lignocellulose from woody biomass. The lignin, in which the lignocellulose is embedded, disssolves in it. The micro-organisms can then break up the remaining cellulose chains until the desired end product, bioethanol, is released.
The ionic salts initially help similar microbes with the conversion process, but over time they are counterproductive as they end up poisoning the animals.
The isolated bacterium, Enterobacter lignolyticus, is not affected by this. It occurs in the soil in tropical rainforests, and ionic liquids are relatively common in its natural environment. A test has shown that the organism can survive in a liquid of 0.5 M 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumchloride (C2mim-Cl).
This is an important step forward in that the complete biomass conversion process can now take place now in one reactor. The bacterium is able to reduce the permeability of its own cell membranes. At the same time it produces additional transport proteins that remove unwanted ions before they can do any damage.
The researchers want to transfer the genes that make this possible to more productive bacteria.
Sources: pnas.org, EurekAlert |
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