Tulane team turns day-old news into biofuels

August 26, 2011 |

In Louisiana, Tulane University researchers have discovered a new bacterial strain that turns newspapers into butanol.  The researchers are currently using old editions from “The Times-Picayune” as a feedstock for their bacterial strain named “TU-103” to produce the ethanol.

Harshad Velenkar, a post doctoral researcher states, “In the United States alone, at least 323 million tons of cellulosic materials that could be used to produce butanol are thrown out each year.”  A patent is pending for the researchers process.

Category: Research

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