Biofuel alternatives to ethanol: pumping the microbial well

Journal Article · Wed Dec 02 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Trends in Biotechnology

OSTI ID:983089

Fortman, J L; Chhabra, Swapnil; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Chou, Howard; Lee, Taek Soon; Steen, Eric; Keasling, Jay D

Engineered microorganisms are currently used for the production of food products, pharmaceuticals, ethanol fuel and more. Even so, the enormous potential of this technology has yet to be fully exploited. The need for sustainable sources of transportation fuels has gener-ated a tremendous interest in technologies that enable biofuel production. Decades of work have produced a considerable knowledge-base for the physiology and pathway engineering of microbes, making microbial engineering an ideal strategy for producing biofuel. Although ethanol currently dominates the biofuel mar-ket, some of its inherent physical properties make it a less than ideal product. To highlight additional options, we review advances in microbial engineering for the production of other potential fuel molecules, using a variety of biosynthetic pathways.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: Physical Biosciences Division
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 983089
• Report Number(s): LBNL-3256E
• Journal Information: Trends in Biotechnology, Journal Name: Trends in Biotechnology Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 26; ISSN TRBIDM; ISSN 0167-7799
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
BIOFUELS
DRUGS
ETHANOL
ETHANOL FUELS
FOOD
KNOWLEDGE BASE
MARKET
MICROORGANISMS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSIOLOGY
PRODUCTION
PUMPING