Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks

Geiselman, Gina M.; Kirby, James; Landera, Alexander; Otoupal, Peter; Papa, Gabriella; Barcelos, Carolina; Sundstrom, Eric R.; Das, Lalitendu; Magurudeniya, Harsha D.; Wehrs, Maren; Rodriguez, Alberto; Simmons, Blake A.; Magnuson, Jon K.; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Lee, Taek Soon; George, Anthe; Gladden, John M.

doi:10.1186/s12934-020-01456-4

Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks

Journal Article · Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Microbial Cell Factories

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-020-01456-4· OSTI ID:1763678

Geiselman, Gina M. ^[1]; Kirby, James ^[1]; Landera, Alexander ^[2]; Otoupal, Peter ^[1]; Papa, Gabriella ^[3]; Barcelos, Carolina ^[3]; Sundstrom, Eric R. ^[3]; Das, Lalitendu ^[1]; Magurudeniya, Harsha D. ^[1]; Wehrs, Maren ^[4]; Rodriguez, Alberto ^[1]; Simmons, Blake A. ^[4]; Magnuson, Jon K. ^[5]; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila ^[6]; Lee, Taek Soon ^[6]; George, Anthe ^[2]; ^[4]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Emeryville, CA (United States). Joint BioEnergy Inst.; Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Emeryville, CA (United States). Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Emeryville, CA (United States). Joint BioEnergy Inst.
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

In an effort to ensure future energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create domestic jobs, the US has invested in technologies to develop sustainable biofuels and bioproducts from renewable carbon sources such as lignocellulosic biomass. Bio-derived jet fuel is of particular interest as aviation is less amenable to electrification compared to other modes of transportation and synthetic biology provides the ability to tailor fuel properties to enhance performance. Specific energy and energy density are important properties in determining the attractiveness of potential bio-derived jet fuels. For example, increased energy content can give the industry options such as longer range, higher load or reduced takeoff weight. Energy-dense sesquiterpenes have been identified as potential next-generation jet fuels that can be renewably produced from lignocellulosic biomass. We developed a biomass deconstruction and conversion process that enabled the production of two tricyclic sesquiterpenes, epi-isozizaene and prespatane, from the woody biomass poplar using the versatile basidiomycete Rhodosporidium toruloides. We demonstrated terpene production at both bench and bioreactor scales, with prespatane titers reaching 1173.6 mg/L when grown in poplar hydrolysate in a 2 L bioreactor. Additionally, we examined the theoretical fuel properties of prespatane and epi-isozizaene in their hydrogenated states as blending options for jet fuel, and compared them to aviation fuel, Jet A. Our findings indicate that prespatane and epi-isozizaene in their hydrogenated states would be attractive blending options in Jet A or other lower density renewable jet fuels as they would improve viscosity and increase their energy density. Saturated epi-isozizaene and saturated prespatane have energy densities that are 16.6 and 18.8% higher than Jet A, respectively. These results highlight the potential of R. toruloides as a production host for the sustainable and scalable production of bio-derived jet fuel blends, and this is the first report of prespatane as an alternative jet fuel.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1763678

Journal Information:: Microbial Cell Factories, Journal Name: Microbial Cell Factories Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 19; ISSN 1475-2859

Publisher:: BioMed CentralCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Additional file 2 of Engineering transcriptional regulation of pentose metabolism in Rhodosporidium toruloides for improved conversion of xylose to bioproducts Coradetti, Samuel T.; Adamczyk, Paul A.; Liu, Di figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23849387	dataset	January 2023

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Additional file 1 of Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks Geiselman, Gina M.; Kirby, James; Landera, Alexander https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13233201 The current record is supplemented by this text	text	January 2020
Additional file 1 of Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks Geiselman, Gina M.; Kirby, James; Landera, Alexander https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13233201.v1 The current record is supplemented by this text	text	January 2020
Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks Geiselman, Gina M.; Kirby, James; Landera, Alexander https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5206392 The current record is supplemented by this collection	collection	January 2020
Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks Geiselman, Gina M.; Kirby, James; Landera, Alexander https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5206392.v1 The current record is supplemented by this collection	collection	January 2020

Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks

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