• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

BESC, Mascoma develop revolutionary microbe for biofuel production

Posted at 9:04 am June 4, 2015
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Yeast

A yeast engineered by Mascoma and BESC could hold the key to accelerating the production of ethanol in the U.S. (Submitted photo)

 

Biofuels pioneer Mascoma LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have developed a revolutionary strain of yeast that could help significantly accelerate the development of biofuels from nonfood plant matter.

BESC is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The approach could provide a pathway to eventual expansion of biofuels production beyond the current output limited to ethanol derived from corn.

C5 FUEL, engineered by researchers at Mascoma and BESC, features fermentation and ethanol yields that set a new standard for conversion of biomass sugars from pretreated corn stover—the non-edible portion of corn crops such as the stalk—converting up to 97 percent of the plant sugars into fuel.

Researchers announced that while conventional yeast leaves more than one-third of the biomass sugars unused in the form of xylose, Mascoma’s C5 FUEL efficiently converts this xylose into ethanol, and it accomplishes this feat in less than 48 hours. The finding was presented Wednesday at the 31st International Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Minneapolis.

Advertisement

“The ability to partner the combined expertise at Mascoma and BESC in engineering microbes to release and convert sugars from lignocellulosic biomass has greatly accelerated the translation of basic research outcomes to a commercial product,” BESC Director Paul Gilna said.

Gilna noted that this success and continued efforts through BESC could go a long way toward reducing the cost of ethanol and growing the number of commercial-level ethanol production plants. A key focus of BESC is to use basic research capabilities and expertise to validate the consolidated bioprocessing approach to improve cost competitiveness.

“Driving down the cost to develop, verify, and consolidate bioprocessing was at the heart of the BESC effort when we began in 2007, and this achievement allows us to advance to the next challenge,” Gilna said. “This accomplishment represents a clearly impactful example of how our partnering with industry can accelerate the translation of our research capabilities and findings into commercial products.”

Although cellulosic biomass such as corn stover, wheat straw, and bagasse (the fibrous remains after sugar is extracted from sugarcane or sorghum) is abundant and cheap, because of recalcitrance—a plant’s resistance to releasing sugars for conversion to alcohol—it is much more difficult to use than corn. However, Mascoma’s new strain of yeast, which is one of many strains Mascoma developed as part of BESC over the last two years, proved highly effective at xylose conversion.

While most processing methods simply convert cellulose to sugar, this new approach also converts hemicellulose, which significantly increases overall sugar yield and thereby increases the level of ethanol produced. In fact, the new strain of yeast simultaneously yields 97 percent conversion of xylose  and glucose—and does so in a significantly shorter period of time than existing approaches.

Kevin Wenger, executive vice president of Mascoma, a subsidiary of Lallemand Inc., shares Gilna’s enthusiasm and emphasized that the BESC model of collaboration made this result possible.

Advertisement

“The scientific and technical resources that we have had access to as a member of BESC for the past six years have made possible the development of this uniquely high-performing yeast product,” Wenger said. “This is just the start of a pipeline of second-generation yeast products planned by Mascoma and Lallemand Biofuels and Distilled Spirits.”

The next step for BESC will be to demonstrate and again validate the application of the consolidated bioprocessing approach using thermophilic, or heat-loving, bacteria to produce biofuels directly from biomass in a single process.

Led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BESC is one of three DOE Bioenergy Research Centers established by the DOE’s Office of Science in 2007. The centers support multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams pursuing the fundamental scientific breakthroughs needed to make production of cellulosic biofuels, or biofuels from nonfood plant fiber, cost-effective on a national scale. The three centers are coordinated at ORNL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in partnership with Michigan State University.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: .22-caliber rifle, BioEnergy Science Center, biofuels, biofuels production, biomass, biomass sugars, C5 FUEL, corn, DOE, DOE Bioenergy Research Centers, ethanol, ethanol production, Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, International Fuel Ethanol Workshop, Kevin Wenger, Lallemand Inc., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mascoma LLC, Michigan State University, Office of Science, ORNL Distinguished Scientist of the Year, Paul Gilna, plant matter, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Wisconsin–Madison, yeast

Advertisements


 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More U.S. Department of Energy News

Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium … [Read More...]

Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation

Submitted The Y-12 National Security Complex flipped the switch on a new era as crews finalized the process of moving the entire site’s electrical supply to the new Pine Ridge substation. In June, the Building … [Read More...]

DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor

The U.S. Department of Energy has decided to build a nuclear test reactor at Idaho National Laboratory to study fuels and materials. Besides INL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory had been considered as a potential site … [Read More...]

DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through … [Read More...]

Crews prepare former ORNL reactors for demolition

The U.S. Department of Energy and cleanup contractor UCOR are preparing to demolish research reactor facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Crews are nearing the final stages of deactivation inside two former … [Read More...]

More DOE

Recent Posts

  • ORAU launches new app with a variety of resources available, including hundreds of STEM internships, fellowships and research opportunities
  • Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion
  • Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation
  • Man sentenced to 8 years after fleeing, crashing, attempting carjackings
  • Three Ohio residents die in two-vehicle crash
  • DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor
  • TBI investigating man’s death
  • Luminarias to feature peace messages
  • Oak Ridge tennis court dance is Thursday
  • DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today