INNOVATIVE BIOFUEL FROM WASTE
The Finnish VTT Technical Research Centre is starting work on a major project that will combine the forces of European research institutes and companies for developing the next generation of biofuel. The NEMO project received funding worth €5.9 million from the EU and is aimed at producing liquid biofuel from agricultural and forestry waste, such as straws and wood chips. This second generation fuel is seen as a more environmentally-friendly source of biofuel as it does not involve the use of foodstocks.
Production of a significant proportion of first generation biofuels has come from endangered habitats, while diverting foodstocks to fuel production has also triggered a rapid increase in food prices according to a World Health Organisation report. Agricultural and forestry waste is mainly lignocellulose, which consists of sugars but in a form that makes them difficult to be used by microbes in the production of ethanol. The project develops enzymes that can be used to cut lignocellulose into sugar compounds suitable for fermentation. The objective of the project VTT is co-ordinating is to tailor the metabolism of microbes so that they can produce large volumes of ethanol out of the biomass sugars economically and efficiently. The project evaluates the suitability of the developed enzymes and yeast strains for industrial biofuel manufacturing processes. The NEMO project (novel high performance enzymes and micro-organisms for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol) will last four years, and develops the next, 2nd generation production technology for the utilisation of lignocellulose raw material in the production of ethanol. The cost-effective production of the next generation biofuel requires the technology to be developed further.
Currently, nearly all biofuel is produced using the first generation technology, which is mainly based on the use of sucrose contained in sugarcane or starch-based glucose contained in corn as raw material. Apart from the sugarcane, the current production methods are not energy efficient enough and their impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions is not sufficient. The NEMO project focuses on the pre-processing methods, hydrolysing cellulose using enzymes and the fermentation of the created sugars using tailored microbes. According to VTT, yeasts are excellent production organisms, suitable for large scale industrial production. Using enzymes, sugars can be released gently from the lignocellulose so that the sugar solution is not too toxic to microbes.
The EU has set a recommendation for its member states with the aim of replacing 5.75% of traffic fuel with biofuels by 2010 and a mandatory target of 10% renewable energy sources in traffic by 2020. As a result, it is necessary to develop new technology for securing the environmentally friendly and cost-effective production of bioethanol. The total costs of the four-year NEMO project amount to €8.2 million. The NEMO project co-ordinated by VTT has participants from a number of European research institutes and industrial producers of enzymes, ethanol and chemicals.
