Biofuel from bacteria attracts worldwide attention

Microscopic green bacteria found almost everywhere could one day be used to power the world, and University of Otago researcher Dr Tina Summerfield is helping bring that idea closer to reality.

The bacteria grow using solar energy, light and carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen and ethanol, biofuels which are already being used as power sources.
Researchers around the world are perfecting ways to grow the bacteria in large enough quantities to produce commercial amounts of biofuels.

Dr Summerfield (37) has received a $264,000 Foundation for Research, Science and Technology postdoctoral fellowship, enabling her to spend the next three years recording which of New Zealand’s many varieties of bacteria grow most quickly and best, and which produce the most amounts of hydrogen or ethanol.

She said yesterday it was too early to say whether bacteria could be used as a source of clean and renewable energy, but that their potential was untapped.

Otago Daily Times