Prof Martin Tangney Director Biofuel Research Centre Presentation Part 2

1. Prof Martin Tangney Director Biofuel Research Centre Presentation Part 2

3. Maximise efficiency C C Use in vehicle in fuel molecules C in fuel molecules Second generation biofuel Lignocellulosic bioethanol CO2 CO2 1st law of thermodynamics… Energy can neither be created nor destroyed C in plant

5. Lignocellulose Yeast do not typically ferment C5 sugars

6. C C Use in vehicle in fuel molecules C in fuel molecules Sustainable biofuel Second generation biofuel Renewable Sustainable Substrates CO2 CO2 C in plant

7. C C Use in vehicle in fuel molecules C in fuel molecules Sustainable biofuel Renewable Sustainable Substrates CO2 CO2 Is there anything better than ethanol??? C in plant

8. BUTANOL as a FUEL • it has a higher energy yield (C4) • can be readily integrated into existing fuel infrastructure • can be blended with petrol at all concentrations • can be blended with diesel • Can be used together with ethanol (enhances the performance of ethanol fuel blends)

9. Solventogenic clostridia development of the ABE fermentation Clostridium acetobutylicum Strictly anaerobic, spore-forming, bacterium isolated in 1912 from corn Ferments carbohydrates into solvents… acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) BUTANOL as a BIO-FUEL Chaim Weizmann Industrial process pioneered by Chaim Weizmann in Manchester… hence, also known as the Weizmann process

10. Solventogenic clostridia development of the ABE fermentation Stimulus for industrial fermentation…World War I ACETONE needed for manufacture of explosives

11. Economic success of the ABE fermentation ● 1920’s – butanol for butyl acetate based lacquers ● new strains of Clostridium isolated ● a better substrate - molasses ● World War II – acetone for cordite ● Global production UK, USA, France, Canada, India, Japan, Brazil, Egypt… second only to alcohol production by yeast

12. Economic demise of the ABE fermentation • Key factors… • Rise of petrochemical industry • Prohibitive cost of substrate 1960’s – discontinued in UK and USA 1980’s – discontinued in South Africa Production continued in former USSR and China

13. Summer 2005…

14. Solventogenic clostridia RE-development of the butanol fermentation "Delivering solutions that reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels is a global imperative. Biobutanol holds tremendous potential for delivering solutions in the near term."- Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont Chairman & CEO “butanol is a next generation biofuel that will supersede ethanol and biodiesel as the biofuel of choice for road transportation within 10 years” Dr Edward Green Green Biologics Ltd

15. Substrate Solventogenic clostridia exhibit remarkable metabolic flexibility Renewable resources Productivity Bioconversion Solventogenic clostridia ABE fermentation BUTANOL

16. Substrate Solventogenic clostridia exhibit remarkable metabolic flexibility feedstock opportunities • agricultural/bioindustrial process wastes • wood process wastes • biomass (corn stover, grasses etc) • marine biomass

21. Solventogenic clostridia RE-development of the butanol fermentation ABE in Brazil

23. “there is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented” Henry Ford 1925