2. Current issues arising from the
use of fossil fuels
Major contributors to global
warming(nitrous oxide)
Acid rain, smog
Health problems
Diminishing fossil fuels (non-renewable)
4. Lignocellulose Biomass
Alternative source of energy
Main idea: to utilise enzymatic
fermentation to convert LCB into
combustible ethanol
5. What is Lignocellulose
Biomass?
LCB basically refers to the biomass found
in the cell walls of plants
Has a long history of being used as a
source of energy
Earliest use:
6. Lignocellulose Biomass
Current commercial usages include
Paper produces, such as paperboards and
card stocks
Textile made from cotton, linen, and other
plant fibers
Cellophane, which is a thin transparent film;
used for photographic and movies films until
the mid 1930s
Nitrocellulose as “smokeless” gunpowder
Cellulose as used for thin layer
chromatography
And of course, as an energy source
7. Lignocellulose Biomass
Constituents of cell walls of plants
Cellulose: 35-50%
Hemicellulose: 20-35%
(Hemicellulose is another polysaccharide that
is present along with cellulose on most plant
cell walls, and has no purpose in providing
structural support, and is easily hydrolyzed. Its
primary function is deter herbivores from
consuming the plant.)
Lignin: 10-25%
8. Cellulose
What is cellulose?
Cellulose is the main component of the
cell wall of plants
A polysaccharide that has a primary
function of providing structural support to
the plant
9. Scanning Electron Micrograph of crystalline cellulose
Source: http://www.mardre.com/homepage/mic/tem/samples/colloid/cellulose/cellulose.html
10. Lignin
What is lignin?
Another important component of the
plant cell wall
Biopolymer that is relatively
heterogeneous and lacks a primary
structure
11.
12. Lignin
Functions
Ecologically, lignin plays a pivotal role in the
carbon cycle, and is the primary
constituent of humus, which forms when
decomposition occurs
Also, it is the main reason why wood is
sturdy, and fit to used as a raw material
that has many applications, including the
manufacturing of furniture, and other wood
products
13. Lignin
Biological function
Like cellulose, lignin provides structural
support for plant cells, by filling up spaces in
the cell wall between the cellulose,
hemicellulose, and pectin components.
How?
15. As illustrated, the strength of the cell walls of
plants come in part of the array of covalent
bonds (more specifically, ether and ester
bonds), linking between the polysaccharides
such as cellulose, and the lignin itself
Ether ester
16. Cellulosic Ethanol
Consider
cellulosic ethanol, the most
prominent form of biofuel
Obtained from the anaerobic
fermentation of cellulose
18. Enzymatic Fermentation of
Cellulose
Aka. Saccharification
Because of the covalent bonds (more
specifically, ester and ether linkages)
between the lignin and the cellulose, the
cell walls become highly resistant to
enzymatic and chemical saccharification.
This resistance is thus termed recalcitrance.
20. Lignin modification
In 2007, a paper was written by Fang Chen
and Richard A. Dixon
Published in “Nature Biotechnology”
Entitled: “Lignin modification improves
fermentable sugar yields for biofuel
production”
http://meps.tamu.edu/symposia/2009/Dixon.
pdf
21. Lignin modification
It is stated that genes encoding the
enzymes that are responsible for the
synthesis of hydroxyphenyl, guaiacyl, and
syringyl, all of which the building blocks of
lignin, have been identified and decoded.
22. Genetic modification of lignin
In August 2010, another paper was published
by a group of Chinese researchers
Entitled: “Syringyl lignin biosynthesis is directly
regulated by a secondary cell wall master
switch”
http://www.pnas.org/content/107/32/14496.f
ull.pdf
23. Genetic modification of lignin
This group of researchers managed to
manipulate the genes encoding the
production of syringyl (one of the
components of lignin).
24.
25. Genetic modification of lignin
In short, thanks to genetic engineering,
recalcitrance factor towards
saccharification has been reduced,
increasing yield of cellulosic ethanol
27. The use of bacteria as an
alternative source of energy
Bacteria feeding on carbon dioxide
Diesel spewing bacteria
28. Bacteria feeding on carbon
dioxide
Inearly 2011, the company Joule
Unlimited patented a process involving a
genetically-modified form of blue-green
bacteria that converts sunlight and
carbon dioxide directly into diesel fuel
They use a genetically engineered
cyanobacteria and an efficient
photobioreactor
29.
30. How it works ?
Involve feeding concentrated waste
carbon dioxide to a new kind of blue
green bacteria
They use Cyanobacteria, which is also
known as blue-green algae, however it is
technically not an algae.
The genetically modified Cyanobacteria
will produce the fuel using photosynthesis
31. How it works?
The bacterium’s product, is a class of hydrocarbon
molecules called alkanes that are chemically
indistinguishable from the ones made in oil
refineries.
The organism can grow in bodies of water unfit for
drinking or on land that is useless for farming.
Alkanes produced are very clean and sulphur-free
hydrocarbons
One bacteria strain produced ethanol. Different
variants can also make polymers and other high-
value chemicals that are ordinarily derived from
petroleum
32. Advantages
Produces five to fifty times more fuel per acre of
bacteria than any current process that uses
biomass – plant material – to create fuel.
Able to make 15 thousand gallons of diesel per
acre annually, even on land unsuitable for food
crops.
Requires large amounts of input CO2, which are
abundant in industrial waste processes(this
increase the efficiency of the process)
33. Advantages
Use marginal land-not food versus fuel but
food plus fuel(increase the efficiency of
both)
Can use water that’s not really usable for
anything else. It is highly conservative of
water as it has almost no evaporative
losses
Produce liquid fuels for cars today.
34. Diesel spewing bacteria
Genetically engineered by researchers
from LS9,INC.
They are specialize in the development of
renewable biofuel using synthetic biology
35. How it works?
Bacteria naturally turn the sugars they
consume into fatty acids, which are later
converted to lipids for storage.
Fatty acids are only a few molecular
linkages removed from diesel fuel
Scientist tweak the genetic makeup of
existing bacteria(E. coli)to yield new,
diesel-producing strains
Divert fatty acid pathways
36.
37. Advantages
The fuel produced by LS9's microbes is pump-
ready-It requires only a simple cleaning step to
filter out impurities
Utilizes 65% less energy than making ethanol
LS9's finished product also has 50% more energy
content than ethanol--a gallon of bacteria fuel
would last your car about 50% longer than a
gallon of ethanol.
Cost, security of supply, and impact on the
environment.
40. Bioenergy from food/plants
In order to provide sufficient energy to meet the
demand, food are turn into biodiesel
In year 2006, more than a third of the entire US maize
crop went to ethanol for fuel, a 48% increase on 2005
Consequences:
Drive deforestation ( contradict environment salvage)
Push small farmers off the land
Lead to serious food shortages
Lead to increased poverty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2
007/may/09/foodanddrink.renewabl
eenergy
41. “If corn-based biofuels are
the Britney Spears of the
cleantech world, fuel
made from algae is the
next great American Idol
winner”
42. Algae
Eukaryotic organisms that contain chlorophyll and other
pigments and can carry on photosynthesis
Large and diverse group of organisms
More than 100,000 different species of plantlike organisms
belong the algae family
~50% of algae compose by weight of lipids
The next “star” for alternative energy
High photosynthetic conversion efficiencies,
Rapid biomass production rates
The capacity to produce a wide variety of biofuel
feedstocks
The ability to thrive in diverse ecosystems.
A low-energy methods to harvest microalgal cells
The low light penetration in dense microalgal cultures.
Having a cost effective extraction technique.
43. Statistics
Algae production has the potential to
outperform other potential biodiesel
Experts estimate it will take 140 billion gallons
of algae biodiesel to replace petroleum-
based products each year.
To reach this goal, algae biodiesel
companies will only need about 95 million
acres of land to build biodiesel plants,
compared to billions of acres of
fertile/arable land for other biodiesel
products.
44. Pros of Algae as fuel
Stabilesoil price
No demand of foods and crops
No compete for arable land
Do not affect fresh water resource
Biodegradable
Resulting in “Greener” energy
47. Algae leading To GE
Algae has maximal production of storage
lipids occur only when the cells are
environmentally stressed in some manner.
But with great lipid produce, the growth rate
of nutrient-deficient algae will be greatly
reduced.
So GE is needed to alter promising species so
that lipid accumulation can be induced
during normal growth modes
Recombinant DNA Technology II,
1994, 721: 250-256.
48. Use of Genetic Engineering in Algae fuel
GE can be used to metabolically engineer
or select for abundant lipid production
coupled with high biomass accumulation
typeof algae being used
way the algae is grown
GEcan also help to facilitate large scale
processing of algae
The method of oil extraction
49. Challenges
Two main challenges that researchers face are:
1) Finding which genes that need to be
transferred
2) Developing the tools to modify a certain algal
species.
50. Limitation of Algae Biofuel
Algae is a very big species to be research on.
Take time and effort
No real and comfirm on classification or organization of
the entire family of Algae
Research is very new and still at its infancy stage where
not much research are concluded yet.
There has not been any real testing done with yet algae
biodiesel and actual cars.
In January 2008, a company used algae biodiesel to fuel a
Mercedes Benz E320 diesel to cruise the streets of Park
City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival.
However, no statistics were released on the car's gas
mileage or what kind of emissions it produced.
What come next? Hold on to that thoughts and we will come back later. Let me tell u about using energy from crops
The global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed, says the most comprehensive survey yet completed of energy crops.The United Nations report, compiled by all 30 of the world organisation's agencies, points to crops like palm oil, maize, sugar cane, soya and jatropha. Rich countries want to see these extensively grown for fuel as a way to reduce their own climate changing emissions. Their production could help stabilise the price of oil, open up new markets and lead to higher commodity prices for the poor.But the UN urges governments to beware their human and environmental impacts, some of which could have irreversible consequences.The report, which predicts winners and losers, will be studied carefully by the emerging multi-billion dollar a year biofuel industry which wants to provide as much as 25% of the world's energy within 20 years.Global production of energy crops is doubling every few years, and 17 countries have so far committed themselves to growing the crops on a large scale.Last year more than a third of the entire US maize crop went to ethanol for fuel, a 48% increase on 2005, and Brazil and China grew the crops on nearly 50m acres of land. The EU has said that 10% of all fuel must come from biofuels by 2020. Biofuels can be used in place of petrol and diesel and can play a part in reducing emissions from transport.On the positive side, the UN says that the crops have the potential to reduce and stabilise the price of oil, which could be very beneficial to poor countries. But it acknowledges that forests are already being felled to provide the land to grow vast plantations of palm oil trees. Environment groups argue strongly that this is catastrophic for the climate, and potentially devastating for forest animals like orangutans in Indonesia.The UN warns: "Where crops are grown for energy purposes the use of large scale cropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and nutrient leaching. Even varied crops could have negative impacts if they replace wild forests or grasslands."But the survey's findings are mixed on whether the crops will benefit or penalise poor countries, where most of the crops are expected to be grown in future. One school of thought argues that they will take the best land, which will increase global food prices. This could benefit some farmers but penalise others and also increase the cost of emergency food aid."Expanded production [of biofuel crops] adds uncertainty. It could also increase the volatility of food prices with negative food security implications", says the report which was complied by UN-Energy."The benefits to farmers are not assured, and may come with increased costs. [Growing biofuel crops] can be especially harmful to farmers who do not own their own land, and to the rural and urban poor who are net buyers of food, as they could suffer from even greater pressure on already limited financial resources."At their worst, biofuel programmes can also result in a concentration of ownership that could drive the world's poorest farmers off their land and into deeper poverty," it says.According to the report, the crops could transform the rural economy of rich and poor countries, attracting major new players and capital, but potentially leading to problems. "Large investments are already signalling the emergence of a new bio-economy, pointing to the possibility that still larger companies will enter the rural economy, putting the squeeze on farmers by controlling the price paid to producers and owning the rest of the value train," it says.The report also says the crops are not guaranteed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Producing and using biofuels results in some reductions in emissions compared to petroleum fuels, it says, but this is provided there is no clearing of forest or peat that store centuries of carbon."More and more people are realising that there are serious environmental and food security issues involved in biofuels. Climate change is the most serious issue, but you cannot fight climate change by large scale deforestation," said Jan van Aken, of Greenpeace International in Amsterdam."Bioenergy provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to address climate change, energy security and rural development. [But] investments need to be planned carefully to avoid generating new environmental and social problems," said Achim Steiner, executive director of UN Environment programme yesterday.Plant powerBiomass energy can be obtained from just about any plant or tree but is most commonly obtained from maize, soya beans, oil palms, sugar cane, sunflower and trees. The carbohydrates in the biomass, which are comprised of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, can be broken down into a variety of chemicals, some of which are useful fuels. At its simplest, plant matter is simply burned but much of the energy is wasted and it can cause pollution. So, the plant is either heated and refined to break down into gases, fermented and turned into grain alcohol or ethanol, or chemically converted to make into biodiesel.
“If corn-based biofuels are the Britney Spears of the cleantech world (a fallen star but still all over the place), fuel made from algae is the next great American Idol winner (major potential in the pipeline)
Let see this important pathway of Algae. Algae has maximal production of storage lipids occur only when the cells are environmentally stressed in some manner.But with great lipid produce, the growth rate of nutrient-deficient algae will be greatly reduced. So GE is needed to alter promising species so that lipid accumulation can be induced during normal growth modes