Thursday, July 30, 2009 - 8:30 AM
S133

Fuel Ethanol Production from Pretreated Wheat Straw Using a Recombinant Bacterium

Badal C. Saha1, Nancy N. Nichols2, Nasib Qureshi1, and Michael A. Cotta1. (1) Fermentation Biotechnology Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, USDA-ARS, 1815 N. University Street, Peoria, IL 61604, (2) Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, USDA-ARS, 1815 N. University Street, Peoria, IL 61604

In 2008, about 9 billion gallons of ethanol were produced from corn starch in the U.S.  The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel be produced in 2022 of which cellulosic biofuel is to contribute 16 billion gallons.  Currently, there is no commercial cellulosic biofuel produced in the U.S.A.  Wheat straw, an abundant byproduct of wheat production, contains about 70% carbohydrates that can serve as a low cost feedstock for conversion to fuel ethanol.  The production of ethanol from any lignocellulosic biomass generally involves four process steps: feedstock pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, fermentation, and ethanol recovery.  Our research dealing with ethanol production by the mixed sugar utilizing recombinant ethanologenic Escherichia coli strain FBR5 from liquid hot water, dilute acid, lime, and alkaline peroxide pretreated wheat straw by separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) will be presented.  Data on batch, fed-batch, cell-recycle and continuous production of ethanol from wheat straw hydrolyzate by the recombinant bacterium will also be presented.  The problems and prospects of developing an integrated process technology for production of ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock by fermentation and future directions of research will be highlighted.


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