Cyanobacteria to ethanol process discovered by Hawaii research team

In Hawaii, University of Hawai’i Professor Pengchen “Patrick” Fu has developed a technology that converts cyanobacteria to ethanol, and has patented the process based on carbon dioxide, sunlight and sugarcane waste as feedstocks.

Professor Fu said that hjis technology is 2-3 years away from being commercially viable; the system allows for continuous harvest of ethanol using a membrane system and strains of cyanobateria that are highly tolerant of ethanol.

The professor’s team has started La Wahie Biotech with offices in Hawaii and Brazil.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Fungus discovered that directly produces biofuel; no conversion process; cellulose a feedstock

In Montana, researchers at Montana State discovered a fungus that synthesizes myco-diesel fuel. The team led by Professor Gary Strobel discovered Gliocladium roseum living on the Patagonian Ulmo tree....

UCSF research team produces green gasoline from French bacterium, yeast

In France, a discovery of an organism in a French garbage dump has prompted a research team at the University of California - San Francisco to identify a path to producing drop-in renewable gasoline f...

Taiwan researchers develop new emulsified fuel using heavy oil, industrial wastewater

In Taiwan, a research team from National Cheng Kung University published a report in Environmental Science and Technology on the development of emulsified fuel oils from heavy oil, industrial wastewat...

Targeted Growth develops process to increase lipid content of cyanobacteria by 400 percent

In Washington state, Targeted Growth announced it has developed a process to increase the lipid content of cyanobacteria by approximately 400 percent. The company said that during the past four years ...

Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council receives grant to produce jatropha seelings

In Hawaii, the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council received a $677,000 grant for producing jatropha plant seedlings that will be used for biodiesel production in the state. The project will pro...

Singapore team pioneers low-cost method for converting CO2 into ethanol

In Singapore, a research team at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology said that they have developed a technique to produce ethanol from carbon dioxide using N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs...