UC Riverside researcher outlines ways companies can profit from waste

In California, a University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering professor is one of the authors of a paper recently published in Science that outlines ways companies can commercialize and profit from what was thought to a waste product created when producing biofuels.

In the paper, the researchers outline the discovery of genetic variants in native populations of bioenergy crops and direct manipulation of biosynthesis pathways to produce lignin with favorable properties for recovery and downstream conversion into valuable, sustainable products. Advances in analytical chemistry and computational modeling detail the structure of the modified lignin and direct bioengineering strategies for future targeted properties.

Refinement of biomass pretreatment technologies has further facilitated lignin recovery, and this coupled with genetic engineering will enable new uses for lignin, including low-cost carbon fibers, engineered plastics and thermoplastic elastomers, polymeric foams, fungible fuels, and commodity chemicals.