Heat-Seeking Bacteria Could Hold Key to Better Cellulosic Ethanol
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles 
on 08.24.07
TMO Renewables, a British company specializing in the production of cellulosic ethanol, is claiming an early victory over its U.S. competitors in the race to create the best replacement for gasoline in cars. "We believe what we've found is not far from the silver bullet, and our demonstration plant will be about showing that. We have the organism people have dreamt of -- it eats nearly anything and it makes ethanol really quickly," said Hamish Curran, the company's CEO, showing off TMO's secret weapon — several bubbling vats of bacteria — in its group laboratories during a recent visit by reporters.
After about two years' worth of painstaking research and genetic manipulation, company scientists discovered and refined the organism they are using to drive the production of their cellulosic ethanol — a heat-seeking rod-shaped bacterium of the geobacillus family. TM242, as they've dubbed it, is a thermophile — a species that thrives in high temperature conditions — that has a high metabolic rate. It is also 300 times more effective at making ethanol than its wild strain counterpart.
"The wild-type came from a compost heap, and the reason we went looking there was because we wanted an organism that could eat multiple feedstocks. The ones that enter the fray and kill all others as the temperature rises are the thermophiles, like our beasty. We see the feedstocks being regional. In the UK it would be wheat straw -- look in the fields, there are straw bales just lying there; in Scandinavia it would be woodchips; in the U.S. corn belt it would be the five foot six of plant that isn't cob," said Curran
Company officials estimate that their demonstration plant will be able to produce about 1 million liters of ethanol a year once it is completed in early 2008. TMO first plans on focusing its efforts on the U.S. market, which already has a mature market in which to sell ethanol, by pushing existing producers to incorporate its technology in their own plants — helping them boost their production figures.
But that's not all: Curran's company is already hard at work refining and experimenting with a species of bacteria that was discovered on the side of a volcano more than a decade ago.
"We have an interesting beasty that was found on the side of a volcano in Montserrat just before it exploded. That one eats vegetable oil, drinks methanol and shits biodiesel."
"Shits" biodiesel? Sign us up!
Via ::Reuters: Hot compost bugs promise greener car fuel (news website)
See also: ::You Got Bacteria in My Gas: Engineering Microbes to Make Hydrocarbons, ::Bacteria: Now More Environmentally Friendly than Ever
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Is there any feasible way of making way large quantities of bio diesel........ without genetic modification?
"Is there any feasible way of making way large quantities of bio diesel........ without genetic modification?"
sure, but not efficiently.
The notion that genetically modified organisms are bad is just plain wrong. Some gmo's are potentially very destructive, others not so much.
But at the end of the day gmo's just might be a 100% necessary evil in the transition away from petroleum as the primary fuel source for vehicles.
Opposing a potential solution to the energy crisis simply because we need gmo's to do it is short sighted imo.
Genetically modifying an organism is not as bad as some make it out to be. However, we need to be very careful with this technology and yes I do agree that there are cases when we should not employ it. However, given the world we find ourselves with there will be times when this technology proves quite useful. This EtOH producing bacterium is a good example. I can think of virtually no negative consequences if done right, and as a molecular biologist I should know. Years ago as an undergraduate I actually worked on a similar project investigating a bacterium isolated from a forest floor in central MA which also produced large amounts of EtOH from cellulose-they show promise to help with our energy needs.
'Termites' also are an amazing cellulose conversion machine. I believe that the science and engineering field is the source of solutions to the minor technical problems facing mankind. Obsession with Legalities are a stonewall hindrance to innovation. They will have to be 'dealt with' in order to see progress. Only future desperation will force that.
:(
I thought that might be the case. I can see that GMO's are not inherently bad, but Genetic Engineering can only ever be as good as the Genetic Engineers.
"I can think of virtually no negative consequences if done right, and as a molecular biologist I should know."
That sounds good JayZ, but is 'virtually' a high enough standard for creating a self-replicating species, that will undoubtedly outlive you or I?
"Opposing a potential solution to the energy crisis simply because we need gmo's to do it is short sighted imo."
Sorry Sly, but to me using an untested, disruptive, biological technology to satisfy a 'need' that has only existed 3 or 4 generations is short-sighted IMHO.
Blogengezer,
Acting like we could completely do away with cars because we didn't have them 3-4 generations ago is more short-sighted by an order of magnitude.
We've spent 100 years building up in infrastructure of roads, and cars (yes.. buses are basically large cars) are the primary means of transportation in most areas of the world. We'll be reliant on cars, or at least something that goes on roads, for a very long time. Finding a greener way to use them is one of the most important technolical hurdles we face right now.
We've spent 100 years building up in infrastructure of roads, and cars (yes.. buses are basically large cars) are the primary means of transportation in most areas of the world. We'll be reliant on cars, or at least something that goes on roads, for a very long time.
100 years ago, the average person never considered that trains would be relegated mostly to cargo and horses relegated to entertainment. Technology matures. Cars will fade to niche obscurity in this century -- probably much faster than trains and horses did.
Interesting concept, but they should be working on biobutanol rather than ethanol, much cleaner burn and more bang for the buck, with the added benefit that it doesn't attract or mix with water like ethanol does. Other than that I don't see any trouble as long as the GMOs are kept secluded and not allowed to escape... and for God's sake, make sure you know how to kill it easily and quickly in case it does.