By Nick Chambers •
January 28, 2010
A group of scientists from both the public and private arenas has announced that they’ve successfully engineered a microbe that contains all the bits required to turn raw plant matter directly into diesel without any refinement or intermediary steps required.
The microbe is a modified strain of E. coli (that’s right, the same type of bugger that’s responsible for some nasty gut infections) that has been enhanced to produce tailor-made diesel molecules, alcohols and waxes directly from hemicellulose—one of the main components of plants. Not only can the microbial products be used for fuel, but the team is also setting their sights on directly producing environmentally-friendly—and industrially-necessary—surfactants, solvents and lubricants.
There is an urgent need for renewable fuels and alternative technologies to reach the marketplace as many experts predict that in the blink of an eye, a barrel of oil could exceed $200. That means $6.00 per gallon gas or more. Today, LS9, a company whose mission is to replace petroleum with advanced biofuels, has become one step closer to doing just that. The company’s UltraClean(TM) Diesel (many people use the term green diesel) product has been vehicle tested and exceeds the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6751 and Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum ANP-7 specifications.
The key to these tests are that they were conducted by a third party which makes me excited for the future applications of the fuel. Personally, I think many technology claims are bogus. Too many “breakthrough” technologies are never validated by a third party and they whither and die in a matter of months.
By Nick Chambers •
March 9, 2009
A well-known biofuels researcher at Harvard has developed a synthetic ribosome — one of the fundamental building blocks for creating artificial life — which, initially, could have major implications for the creation of designer enzymes to make cheaper and more energy efficient cellulosic ethanol.
Dr. George Church, co-founder of the next generation biofuels company LS9, made the stunning announcement in a telephone call with reporters.
“If you are going to make synthetic life that is anything like current life … you have got to have this … biological machine,” Dr. Church said in comments to Reuters.
By Ariel Schwartz •
July 31, 2008
A new milestone was reached recently in the race to make fuel from algae a conventional oil alternative: high-octane gasoline that is compatible with any gas-guzzling vehicle. The feat was performed by Sapphire Energy, a company that manufactures “green crude”. Sapphire uses single-cell algae to produce a chemical mixture that contains extractable fuel for cars and other transport vehicles. While the green crude is chemically identical to crude oil, it is completely carbon neutral.
The algal energy doesn’t require the use of agricultural land and water, and it deliver 10 to 100 times more energy per acre than crop-based biofuels. The company hopes that their green crude will ultimately be injected into normal crude pipelines.
The privately held, venture backed industrial biotechnology company, LS9, maintains that the answer to our gas crisis is renewable petroleum technology that they have custom engineered, a Designer Biofuel. Researchers at the San Francisco-based company have been able to alter existing bacteria to yield new, diesel-producing strains. They are also working on developing a bacteria strain that makes crude oil that canbe trucked and go through the refining process.
The hydrocarbon based biofuel mimics fuel properties [...]
