Monday, August 13, 2012
Columbia Hall, Terrace Level (Washington Hilton)
The next generation of biofuels that are energy dense, infrastructure compatible, and reduce the reliance on foreign petroleum is of increasing importance. In addition, the potential advantages of non-traditional feedstocks such as hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are being recognized. The low cost and abundance of natural gas combined with the availability of proven technologies for steam methane reforming has renewed interest in synthesis gas a process feedstock. In addition, significant research is being devoted to develop technologies such as gasification of biomass or municipal solid waste, to obtain hydrogen and carbon dioxide as alternatives to sugar feedstocks. Cupriavidus necator is a non-obligate chemolithotrophic bacterium that has the native ability to use H2 and CO2, and is ideal to engineer for the production of products without a requirement for sugar as a feedstock. OPXBIO is developing an engineered strain of C.necator that produces high levels of free fatty acids. These free fatty acids have successfully been catalytically converted to diesel fuel. This presentation will highlight recent work on the metabolic engineering of C.necator , the development of bench scale H2- and CO2 fermentations and the catalytic conversion of fatty acids to fungible diesel.