Company Finds Faster, Cheaper Way to Make Ethanol

Unmodified, the bacterium efficiently degrades cellulose to produce a mixture of ethanol and other organic waste products. Scientists at Mascoma have genetically altered the bacteria to produce predominantly ethanol, significantly reducing unwanted waste products and increasing the amount of ethanol that can be produced, Flatt said.

The genetically modified bacteria now produce almost 6-percent weight by volume ethanol from cellulose, an increase of 60 percent in what Mascoma scientists reported last year, according to a Mascoma press release.

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