Impact Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 6)

Lonnie Ingram holds a petri dish containing the bacterium that produces ethanol from biomass. Greg Luli, standing, vice president for research and development at Verenium Corp., said the firm has an exclusive license from UF to use the bioconversion technology, which has attracted international attention. It is being used in South Florida, Louisiana and Japan. photo by thomas wright sources for our country. Using biomass, Florida can be a leader in renewable fuel production.” Ingram, who directs the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels at UF, estimates that Florida produces as much as 124 million tons of biomass each year — enough to make 10 billion gallons of ethanol, which is more than double the 4.8 billion gallons now made mostly from corn nationwide. Converting biomass to fuel ethanol could replace half of the imported petroleum in the United States, he said. “With the cost of imported fuel reaching record highs, we can use this new technology to produce ethanol for about $1.30 per gallon,” Ingram said. “Ethanol will stretch the nation’s fuel supply and make gasoline burn more cleanly. Gasoline-ethanol blends also boost the octane rating of automotive fuel.” Ingram, who briefed President Bush and members of Congress in April 2007 about the technology, said his genetically engineered bacteria are capable of converting all sugar types found in plant cell walls into fuel ethanol. Until now, all of the world’s fuel ethanol has been produced from highvalue materials such as corn using yeast fermentations. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Ingram said he genetically engineered the two organisms by cloning the unique genes needed to direct the digestion of sugars into ethanol, the same pathway found in yeast and higher plants. These genes were inserted into a variety of bacteria that have the ability to use all sugars found in plant material, but normally produce a worthless mixture of acetic and lactic acids as fermentation products. With the ethanol genes, the engineered bacteria may have the potential to produce ethanol from biomass sugars with 90 percent to 95 percent efficiency. The governor called Ingram a pioneer and said that there is a real opportunity for Florida to be a national leader in developing alternative fuels and reducing vehicle emissions. Ingram’s work resulted in the first royalty check from Verenium to UF for the bioconversion technology that was selected to by the U.S. Department of Commerce to become landmark U.S. Patent No. 5,000,000 in 1991. Geoffrey Hazlewood, senior vice president of research at Verenium, said the firm is on track to complete its 1.4 million gallons per year biomass-to-ethanol demonstration facility in Jennings, La., at the end of March 2008. In addition, the technology, licensed by Verenium to Murabeni Corp. and Tsukishima Kikai Corp., Ltd. in Japan, has been incorporated into BioEthanol Japan’s 1.4 million liters per year (about 370,000 gallons) cellulosic ethanol plant in Osaka to produce ethanol from wood waste. Grant Support In March 2008, IFAS received an $866,576 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture for the genetic engineering of sugarcane to increase its output of fermentable sugar. Required nonfederal matching support, including funds from Florida 6 IMPACT | Spring 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Impact Magazine - Spring 2008

Impact Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents A Big Boost for Biofuels Top Priority Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture Eliminating the Evil Weevil Invasive Pest Defeating Resistant Roaches Biodiesel Boon User-Friendly Updates for FAWN Flat-Out Great for the Grill! Laser Labeling Cashing in on Caviar Saving Water with Soil-Moisture Sensors Spotlight IFAS Development News

Impact Magazine - Spring 2008

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