Researchers’ discovery could potentially lead to cheaper biofuels 

In Washington, researchers of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Washington State University are exploring ways to transform the wood’s stored carbon into aviation biofuels and other valuable products more easily and cost-effectively.

“While it can take a century for some types of wood to fully decompose, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University took a lesson from nature and discovered a new way to speed the process,” PNNL said.

The subject of their research is lignin, the world’s most abundant renewable substance. Lignin is found in the cell walls of trees and plants where it provides structural strength for standing upright and helps carry water and minerals into their branches. Lignin is an unwanted byproduct of the pulp and paper industry because it weakens paper and leads to discoloration, PNNL added.

“While methods to separate lignin from wood pulp have improved over the years, breaking the complex molecular structure of this woody substance into its basic components—simple sugars and carbon dioxide—remains a formidable challenge.”

“Now that the research team has developed the first nature-inspired enzyme that successfully and efficiently digests lignin to produce compounds that could be used in biofuels or chemical production, the researchers are focused on optimizing and scaling the process, once again leveraging nature’s design.

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