Ethanol plant Two University of Texas scientists, Professor R. Malcolm Brown, Jr. and research associate Dr. David Nobles, Jr., have developed a cyanobacteria that secretes the sugars cellulose, glucose, and sucrose. These sugars’ fermentation is the major source of the alternative biofuel ethanol. The cyanobacteria could solve many of the problems surrounding ethanol production and could become a highly viable option for renewable energy.
Currently, lands devoted to raising sources of the sugars that ferment into ethanol, like corn, are being overused and crop prices are rising. Also, extracting sugars from other sources is difficult. Those concerns are largely solved with the new cyanobacteria, which can be raised in production facilities and salty water. The sugars can be extracted more easily from the cyanobacteria than from plant-based sources like corn because plant-based sources are crystalline and mixed with several other compounds.
This could become a major source of renewable energy as well as free up thousands of acres of arable farmland and lessen the pressure on the rainforests. The possibilities are endless! Kudos to Professor Brown and R. Nobles for their amazing discovery.
Read more at the UT website and the Daily Texan.
Comments
Great find! Thank you for shedding some light on the Ethanol debate. It would be interesting to know how this effects our regional farmlands and farmers, both economically and environmentally. Also, is the federal or state government facilitating this type of microbe assisted ethanol production via farm subsidies? If any one knows more, please share.
There has recently been increased debate over subsidies as a new Agro bill is being discussed in the legislature. You can read more about that here.
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