Microbial biofuel technologies - ARPA-e

36 Pages·2012·1.53 MB·English

by  G. Stephanopoulos

ARPA-E Workshop
Bio-technologies for Methane to
Liquids conversion: Bio-GTL

Washington, DC, December 5, 2012
Microbial biofuel
technologies

Greg Stephanopoulos
MIT
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
1. Sugar platform
Starches (Corn) Sugarcane Straightforward
with yeast
Easy conversion
Ethanol
Sugars
Biomass deconstruction
Advanced
still challenging
biofuels
Hydrolysates of plentiful
biomass-algae
Requires Metabolic
Engineering
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
2. Biofuel production by direct
photosynthesis
Metabolic Engineering;
Sun
Oil-alkane
Secretion?
Oil recovery production
Just growth
Biomass
Algae
Other biofuels
Productivities are high
but cultures very dilute
(ethanol)
Key challenge:
Cost-effective dewatering
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
3. Biodiesel
Biodiesel
Oils
(FAME)
Simple trans-esterification reaction
Key issues: Feedstock cost and availability
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
4. Bio-GTL
Clostridia
(Coskata, Lanzatech)
Natural gas Steel mills
Ethanol
SynGas Acetogens (Moorella)
Acetate OIL
Gasification of via Metabolic
Advanced
Engineering
biomass, MSW, coal
biofuels
Expensive gasifiers
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
Drivers for explosive growth of biotech
in the 21st century:

• Push for Process Sustainability
• Technology advances
• Metabolic Engineering
• Engineering microbes for any
conversion at very high selectivity
• Opportunity for resource utilization
and rural development
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
Key points
 Modern era of Metabolic Engineering
 ME of the Future
 Biological vs. Thermochemical
processes
 Accelerating pathway engineering
 Special issues with gas substrates:
Mass transfer but also product
stripping
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
Cells:
Little chemical
factories with
thousands of
chemical compounds
interconverted
through thousands of
chemical reactions
Main substrate:
Sugars

Products: Virtually
infinite
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
Engineering microbes to produce any
product
CoA remover
CoA activator
P 4

1 2 3 4 5 6

n n n n n n
Substrates
x x x x x x
R R R R R R
Pentanol
P 2 P 4
HPLC analysis
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012
9
Bioinformatics and Metabolic ARPA-E Bio-GTL
Engineering Laboratory G. Stephanopoulos December 5, 2012