Bacterial biofuel breakthrough

Research engineers at Ohio State University in the USA said they have developed a new strain of the bacterium Clostridium beijerinckii in a bioreactor containing bundles of polyester fibres, that produced up to 30 grams of butanol per litre.

Previously, at a rate more than 15 grams per litre concentrations of alcohol, the tank fermentation tank would become too toxic for the bacteria to survive.
Biobutanol is an emerging biofuel, prized for its higher energy density than ethanol, and for its ability to be blended at higher concentrations than ethanol without requiring changes in infrastructure – the vaunted “drop-in fuel” replacement for petrol.

As reported in Biofuel Digest, the research team explained: “Today, the recovery and purification of butanol account for about 40 per cent of the total production cost. Because we are able to create butanol at higher concentrations, we believe we can lower those recovery and purification costs and make biofuel production more economical.”

The researchers said they believed they could bring the cost of butanol production below AUD 1.00 per litre.

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