Industrial Biotechnology
HGBiofuels
Constortium: Chalmers, Copenhagen
University, SEKAB, Inbicon and Statoil
Project manager & presenter Lisbeth Olsson
Industrial Biotechology, Dept. Of Chemical and Biological Engineering,
Chalmers University of Technology,
Sweden, lisbeth.olsson@chalmers.se
Industrial Biotechnology
WHY?
• The transportation sector
need sustainable fuels
• The transportation sector is
growing
• EU directive, 20 % biofuels in
the transportation sector by
2020
• Cost efficient solutions to
meet this demand needs to be
developed
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Industrial Biotechnology
WHAT CAN BIOTECHNOLOGY BRING?
Driving forces to use biotechnology
• Cheap & renewable raw materials available for biobased
production
• Utilization of biodiversity to develop advanced biocatalysts
• Technologies available for design of advanced cell factories for
production of fuels & chemistry
• Biocatalysts lead to clean and environmentally friendly technology
• Less dependence of petroleum based production
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Industrial Biotechnology
WHAT WILL HGBioFuels ADRESS?
• Second generation bioethanol production at
high gravity
– Development of the biocatalysts
– Development of process equipment principles
• Development of biobutanol production
• Use LCA to evaluate the environmental impact
of the processes
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Industrial Biotechnology
Beyond bioethanol
Why butanol?
•Butanol has a higher energy content
compared to ethanol
• Lower water absorption and
volatility compared to ethanol
• Existing distribution systems can be
used
• Can be used in conventional
engines without or with less
modifications
Why not butanol
Butanol is very toxic to the producing
organisms
Industrial Biotechnology
Bioethanol – today/tomorrow
1st generation bioethanol
60 % of world ethanol production is produced from
sugar crops: sugar beet, sugar cane
40 % is produced from grains: corn (maize)
2nd generation bioethanol (tomorrow)
• Lignocellulose/biomass
is an abundant renewable
st
Issues on 1 generation ethanol
substrate
• A fair amount of energy is used for the production of
• The EtOH
energy balance is very positive. Net CO2 release ≈
starch
•zero
Substrate is also used in food production
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Source: F.O. Licht, World Fuel Ethanol – Analysis and Outlook, 2006
Industrial Biotechnology
Lignocellulosic material can be degraded to
fermentable sugars, but is more difficult to
convert than starch derived raw materials
Hemicellulose is
degraded to mainly
glucose, galactose,
mannose, xylose
and arabinose
Cellulose is hydrolysed to glucose units
Industrial Biotechnology
Bioethanol production from
lignocellulose
Chipping/
grinding
Lignocellulosic
material
Pretreatment
Enzymatic
hydrolysis
Fermentation
Enzyme
production
Production
of cells
Enzymatic
Hydrolysis
Fermentation
Down stream processing
Ethanol or butanol
Industrial Biotechnology
Challenges for the biocatalyst
Lignocellulosic material is recalcitrant and
after degradation inhibitory compounds are
formed that influence the biocatalysts
Cellulose need to be made available to the
enzymes
Microorganisms need to efficiently convert all
sugars
(H. Joergensen)
Industrial Biotechnology
Higher gravity leads to poorer performance by
the biocatalysts
Fig. 2
Total xylose consumption
100%
90%
200 ºC – 5 min
210 ºC – 5 min
Unadapted strain, F12
80%
70%
Adapted strain
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
4%
6%
8%
4%
6%
8%
Tomas Pejo et al, unpublished data
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Industrial Biotechnology
Microbial cell factories need to ferment
lignocellusic materials efficiently
•Robust strain background
•Stress tolerance
•High product tolerance
•Process robustness
•Propagation procedure
•Nutrional requirements
Zaldivar et al. (2001) AMB, 56, 17, Albers, unpublished results
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Industrial Biotechnology
Which are the challenges for the high gravity processes
Very high gravity
medium of jet
cooked corn, 35 %
dry matter
Pretreated wheat straw,
30 % dry matter
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Industrial Biotechnology
AGT
AAT
0 1 0 -3
ATGCCTATC
Sequence
-1 2 0 2
S•v=0
Isocitrate lyase
Annotation
R1 + R2
kf
Host Metabolic
Engineering
Pi
kr
Enzyme & Protein Engineering
Cheaper and
more
Modern Industrial Biotechnology
environmentally
Model Development friendly
& Prediction
Genetic Implementation
Development
processesProcess
will
be
achieved by:
Biocatalysis
Fermentation
Biomass
Pre-treated &
Treated RM
(Glucose)
Downstream
Energy
Waste
Product
Supplements, O2, CO2
•Design of biocatalysts suitable for renewable raw materials
•Understanding of the whole processes and the interplay between
different process steps
•Process integration
•Use LCA to guiding the process development to ensure improvements
with large environmental impact
Otero et al (2007) AdvBiotechnol Biochem Eng 108, 1
Industrial Biotechnology
Benefits of the HGBiofuels program
• Bring together key players in this research area.
Interdisciplinary competences
• Due to strong network access to broad background
knowledge
• Explore Nordic feedstocks (wood and agricultural residues)
• Use of LCA to evaluate the environmental impact of the
processes
• Academia and industry work closely together
• Training and mobility
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Industrial Biotechnology
CTH-CBE
Project manager
Fermentation,
physiology, strain
improvement
CTH-EE
LCA analysis
Process
simulation
HG Biofuels
Inbicon
Pretreatment , large
scale process data
SEKAB
Pretreatment,
characterisation
of material
KU-LIFE
Enzymatic hydrolysis,
material characterisation,
detoxification
Statoil
Fermentation,
strain
improvement
Industrial Biotechnology
Milestones &deliverables
• LCA models
• High gravity process developed concepts
• New yeast strains and process conditions for
bioethanol production
• New bacterial strains for biobutanol
production
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