Provisional patent filed for process using most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere
Indiana University biologists believe they have found a faster, cheaper and cleaner way to increase bioethanol production by using nitrogen gas, the most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere, in place of more costly industrial fertilizers. The discovery could save the industry millions of dollars and make cellulosic ethanol – made from wood, grasses and inedible parts of plants – more competitive with corn ethanol and gasoline.
The raw materials for cellulosic ethanol are low in nitrogen, a nutrient required for ethanol-producing microbes to grow, so cellulosic ethanol producers are estimated to spend millions of dollars annually on nitrogen fertilizers like corn steep liquor and diammonium phosphate. But an IU team led by biologist James B. McKinlay has found that the bioethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis can use nitrogen gas (N2) as a nitrogen source, something that the more traditional ethanol-producer, baker’s yeast, cannot do.
“When we discovered that Z. mobilis could use N2 we expected that it would make less ethanol. N2 utilization and ethanol production demand similar resources within the bacterial cell so we expected resources to be pulled away from ethanol production to allow the bacteria to grow with N2,” McKinlay said. “To our surprise the ethanol yield was unchanged when the bacteria used N2. In fact, under certain conditions, the bacteria converted sugars to ethanol much faster when they were fed N2.”
Knowing the bacterium could use N2 without hindering ethanol production, the team reasoned that N2 gas could serve as an inexpensive substitute for nitrogen fertilizers during cellulosic ethanol production.
“Until recently, ethanol has been produced almost entirely from food crops, but last year there was a surge in cellulosic ethanol production as several commercial facilities opened,” McKinlay said. “Cellulosic ethanol offers more favorable land use and lower carbon emissions than conventional ethanol production. Even so, cellulosic ethanol is struggling to be cost-competitive against corn ethanol and gasoline.”
The largest cost contributors to cellulosic ethanol production are the cellulosic plant material and the enzymes needed to degrade the plant material into sugars that are converted into ethanol, so they have received the most attention.
“But we recognized nitrogen fertilizers as a smaller, yet considerable, cost contributor that could potentially be more readily addressed,” he said.
They estimated that using N2 gas, which can be produced on-site at production facilities, in place of costly nitrogen supplements could save an ethanol production facility over $1 million dollars a year. Using N2 gas could also have environmental benefits such as avoiding carbon dioxide emissions associated with producing and transporting the industrial fertilizers.
Read more: IU biologists partner bacterium with nitrogen gas to produce more, cleaner bioethano
The Latest on: Bioethanol
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Bioethanol” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Bioethanol
- No, combustion engines won’t be supplanted by electric vehicles—and they’re critical for sustainable transporton May 8, 2024 at 11:55 am
EVs will play a key role in the green transition, but so will hybrids and other vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.
- Bioethanol Activists Get Cold Shoulder from Four Commissionerson May 8, 2024 at 9:27 am
By Mike Lednovich Fernandina Beach City Commissioners sat stoically Tuesday night as six speakers peppered them with questions and comments regarding RYAM’s proposal to build a bioethanol production ...
- RAYONIER ADVANCED MATERIALS INCon May 7, 2024 at 2:29 am
"The solid first quarter, along with the start-up of the bioethanol facility in Tartas and the April completion of the planned maintenance outage in Jesup, keep us on track to deliver our full-year ...
- RCR NCS Race Recap: Kansas Speedwayon May 6, 2024 at 8:01 am
Everyone at RCR did a great job this weekend. We had a fast Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro today. The guys deserved to finish in the top three. We qualified well and we backed that up in the race.
- Indonesia plans to use corn, sugarcane, seaweed to make bioethanolon May 4, 2024 at 6:52 pm
In order to expedite the development of bioethanol, the Indonesian government is aiming to make use of around two million hectares of sugarcane plantati ...
- Indonesia turns to Australian sugarcane to boost sugar, bioethanol productionon May 3, 2024 at 4:53 am
ndonesia will use sugarcane seedlings from Australia to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production and support the government’s bioethanol plans, a cabinet minister has said. “The Indonesian ...
- Government formulating subsidy for bioethanol fuel: Ministeron May 3, 2024 at 1:36 am
The government is currently in the process of calculating the rate of a subsidy dedicated to bioethanol fuel in a bid to tackle air pollution, ...
- SA’s first bioethanol solution from paper sludge pioneers at Sappi Tugela Millon April 30, 2024 at 9:00 pm
An SA-first pioneering solution to convert paper sludge waste into bioethanol was announced at the Sappi Tugela Mill in Mandeni last Wednesday. Bioethanol is a valuable and versatile base material ...
- Vattenfall to expand green gas trading, exec sayson April 30, 2024 at 4:01 am
Swedish utility Vattenfall (VATN.UL) plans to expand green gas trading in the coming few years after it started trading biomethane and bioethanol last year, as it aims be net-zero by 2040, a senior ...
- PAMSA announces SA-first solution to convert organic waste into bioethanolon April 29, 2024 at 4:10 pm
The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA), in collaboration with Stellenbosch University (SU), Sappi Southern Africa and Mpact, has announced a solution that converts paper sludge, ...
via Bing News