Sponsored by: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; U.S. Dept. of Energy

Project Number:
USDA:   98-35505--6976
DOE:   DEFG02-96ER20222

There can be little doubt of the strategic, environmental, and societal benefits which would be realized by a shift from petroleum-based liquid fuels for transportation to renewable fuels such as ethanol from biomass. Three primary barriers preventing ethanol production from biomass are the cost of production relative to current product value and the large capital investment. Although all required components for a biomass to ethanol process are now available and have been demonstrated at bench and pilot scale, building a cost-effective integrated process remains a major challenge. Long term, it will be essential to reduce capital costs through a reduction in process complexity. For many steps, this complexity results from limitations of the biocatalysts. This project focuses on developing ethanol-producing biocatalysts with increased resistance to toxic products generated during the chemical hydrolysis of lignocellulose components. These compounds, sugar and lignin degradation products, currently must be removed by an expensive process. Improvements in toxin resistance could result in the development of simplified processes designs which eliminate the need for several process steps and improve the economics of fuel ethanol production.