CRITICAL ECONOMIC FACTORS FOR SUCCESS OF A BIOMASS CONVERSION PLANT FOR AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE, YARD RESIDUE AND WOOD WASTE IN FLORIDA

This model evaluates the potential success of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Florida. Critical Economic factors of the plant were simulated to assess the ability of this project. These critical factors include the feedstock to be used, the cost of the facility, transportation costs and the discount rate for the net present value (NPV). Results and observations are presented in this paper.Biofuels, renewable energy, cellulosic ethanol, biomass, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

Advances in ethanol production

Barriers to the commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol include the development of more robust biocatalysts, reduction of cellulase costs, and high capital cost associated with a complex process. Improvements have been made in all areas during the past two years. Oxidoreductases, transporters, and regulators have been identified that can increase the tolerance of biocatalysts to inhibitors formed during pretreatment. Biocatalysts are being developed that grow under conditions that are optimal for cellulase activity and others have been engineered to produce glycoside hydrolases. Ethanol yields resulting from most current process configurations are similar, approximately 0.21 g ethanol/g dry cellulosic feedstock. Potentially, this can be increased to at least 0.27 g ethanol/g biomass (83 gal/ton) using simpler processes

Complete Genome Sequence of a thermotolerant sporogenic lactic acid bacterium, Bacillus coagulans strain 36D1

Bacillus coagulans is a ubiquitous soil bacterium that grows at 50-55 °C and pH 5.0 and ferments various sugars that constitute plant biomass to L (+)-lactic acid. The ability of this sporogenic lactic acid bacterium to grow at 50-55 °C and pH 5.0 makes this organism an attractive microbial biocatalyst for production of optically pure lactic acid at industrial scale not only from glucose derived from cellulose but also from xylose, a major constituent of hemicellulose. This bacterium is also considered as a potential probiotic. Complete genome sequence of a representative strain, B. coagulans strain 36D1, is presented and discussed

Ethanologenic Enzymes of Zymomonas mobilis

Zymomonas mobilis is a unique microorganism in being both obligately fermentative and utilizing a Entner-Doudoroff pathway for glycolysis. Glycolytic flux in this organism is readily measured as evolved carbon dioxide, ethanol, or glucose consumed and exceeds 1 {micro}mole glucose/min per mg cell protein. To support this rapid glycolysis, approximately 50% of cytoplasmic protein is devoted to the 13 glycolytic and fermentative enzymes which constitute this central catabolic pathway. Only 1 ATP (net) is produced from each glucose metabolized. During the past grant period, we have completed the characterization of 11 of the 13 glycolytic genes from Z. mobilis together with complementary but separate DOE-fimded research by a former post-dot and collaborator, Dr. Tyrrell Conway. Research funded in my lab by DOE, Division of Energy Biosciences can be divided into three sections: A. Fundamental studies; B. Applied studies and utility; and C. Miscellaneous investigations

Fermentation of Glycerol to Succinate by Metabolically Engineered Strains of Escherichia coli▿ †

The fermentative metabolism of Escherichia coli was reengineered to efficiently convert glycerol to succinate under anaerobic conditions without the use of foreign genes. Formate and ethanol were the dominant fermentation products from glycerol in wild-type Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, followed by succinate and acetate. Inactivation of pyruvate formate-lyase (pflB) in the wild-type strain eliminated the production of formate and ethanol and reduced the production of acetate. However, this deletion slowed growth and decreased cell yields due to either insufficient energy production or insufficient levels of electron acceptors. Reversing the direction of the gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase reaction offered an approach to solve both problems, conserving energy as an additional ATP and increasing the pool of electron acceptors (fumarate and malate). Recruiting this enzyme through a promoter mutation (pck*) to increase expression also increased the rate of growth, cell yield, and succinate production. Presumably, the high NADH/NAD+ ratio served to establish the direction of carbon flow. Additional mutations were also beneficial. Glycerol dehydrogenase and the phosphotransferase-dependent dihydroxyacetone kinase are regarded as the primary route for glycerol metabolism under anaerobic conditions. However, this is not true for succinate production by engineered strains. Deletion of the ptsI gene or any other gene essential for the phosphotranferase system was found to increase succinate yield. Deletion of pflB in this background provided a further increase in the succinate yield. Together, these three core mutations (pck*, ptsI, and pflB) effectively redirected carbon flow from glycerol to succinate at 80% of the maximum theoretical yield during anaerobic fermentation in mineral salts medium