This document discusses a new approach to industrial photosynthesis called the "direct process" that aims to more efficiently capture solar energy and convert it to liquid fuel. The direct process uses genetically engineered cyanobacteria that are designed to (1) directly synthesize and secrete diesel-like alkanes, (2) optimize carbon partitioning for product synthesis over growth, and (3) operate continuously in specialized photobioreactors. The document analyzes the energy conversion efficiencies of this direct process compared to conventional algal biomass processes and concludes the direct process has the potential for significantly higher areal productivities through its novel engineering approaches.
Engineered Thiobacillus denitrificans produced up to 52 times more fatty acids than the wild-type strain when a modified thioesterase gene from E. coli was integrated into its chromosome under control of two native promoters. Fatty acid production was tested during growth of the engineered strains on thiosulfate, nitrate and carbon dioxide. This proof-of-principle study suggests engineering sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to overproduce fatty acid-derived products could simultaneously produce renewable fuels and remediate sulfide-contaminated wastewater.
This document summarizes research on developing an orthogonal fatty acid biosynthesis system in E. coli for oleochemical production. Key findings include:
- Several type I fatty acid synthase (FAS) enzymes from Corynebacterium glutamicum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were cloned and expressed solubly in E. coli.
- The activity of several type I FAS enzymes was demonstrated in vivo, and C. glutamicum FAS was used to produce fatty alcohols and methyl ketones.
- This represents the first example of a heterologous FAS pathway in E. coli and lays the groundwork for further optimizing renewable oleochemical production.
The document discusses how plastics help reduce climate change in three main ways:
1) Plastic products require less energy to produce and transport compared to alternative materials, saving significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime.
2) Plastics enable lighter, more efficient products and packaging that use less raw materials and energy. Their widespread use has avoided hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 emissions annually.
3) Recovery of plastic waste through recycling or energy recovery prevents emissions from landfilling and provides energy sources with lower carbon footprints than other materials. Substituting plastics could increase global emissions by hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 per year.
This document summarizes research on improving Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for the conversion of lignin-derived aromatic compounds into biofuels and bioproducts. Adaptive laboratory evolution was used to evolve P. putida strains with improved tolerance to the hydroxycinnamic acids p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Evolved strains showed significant decreases in lag phase and increases in growth rate in high concentrations of these acids. Whole genome sequencing identified genetic mutations conferring these improvements, including in genes like PP_3350 and ttgB. Deletion of these genes in the wild type strain verified their roles in tolerance. This work identifies new targets for engineering P. putida's ability to utilize aromatic compounds
This document summarizes an approach for de novo DNA synthesis using polymerase nucleotide conjugates. The approach involves conjugating each polymerase molecule with a single nucleotide triphosphate. Incorporation of the tethered nucleotide leaves the polymerase bound to the extended primer. Cleaving the linkage allows further extension. This enables enzymatic synthesis of a 10-mer oligonucleotide, representing a promising starting point for practical enzymatic DNA synthesis.
The document discusses several studies related to pectin biopolymers and their mechanical properties. One study found that pectin film resilience correlated with polymer network density and burst strength was independent of polymer association density and water content from 5-30%. Another study used acoustic emission monitoring to investigate glass and gel phase pectin films under loading and found the films exhibited stick-slip motion correlated with water content. A third study separated ER and Golgi membranes with electrophoresis, identifying over 200 proteins involved in polysaccharide synthesis and trafficking.
The document describes three studies related to biofuels and bioproducts:
1) A study characterized a novel lactam biosensor from Pseudomonas putida with unprecedented sensitivity for valerolactam and caprolactam. Through engineering, they developed biosensors with a wide dynamic range.
2) A study used quantum calculations and simulations to understand how Keggin-type polyoxometalate ionic liquids dissolve lignin. Calculations showed interactions between the ionic liquid and lignin model compound.
3) A study determined the mechanism of regioselectivity in an unusual bacterial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, TcsD, which catalyzes terminal alkene formation. Struct
The document discusses standard flow liquid chromatography for shotgun proteomics in bioenergy research. The approach assesses the suitability of this proteomics platform using samples from Escherichia coli and Arabidopsis thaliana, which are commonly used model systems. Nearly 800 proteins from E. coli samples and over 1,000 proteins from A. thaliana samples were reliably identified. The results indicate this is a robust approach for analyzing complex bioenergy samples, providing reproducibility between replicates.
Engineered Thiobacillus denitrificans produced up to 52 times more fatty acids than the wild-type strain when a modified thioesterase gene from E. coli was integrated into its chromosome under control of two native promoters. Fatty acid production was tested during growth of the engineered strains on thiosulfate, nitrate and carbon dioxide. This proof-of-principle study suggests engineering sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to overproduce fatty acid-derived products could simultaneously produce renewable fuels and remediate sulfide-contaminated wastewater.
This document summarizes research on developing an orthogonal fatty acid biosynthesis system in E. coli for oleochemical production. Key findings include:
- Several type I fatty acid synthase (FAS) enzymes from Corynebacterium glutamicum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were cloned and expressed solubly in E. coli.
- The activity of several type I FAS enzymes was demonstrated in vivo, and C. glutamicum FAS was used to produce fatty alcohols and methyl ketones.
- This represents the first example of a heterologous FAS pathway in E. coli and lays the groundwork for further optimizing renewable oleochemical production.
The document discusses how plastics help reduce climate change in three main ways:
1) Plastic products require less energy to produce and transport compared to alternative materials, saving significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime.
2) Plastics enable lighter, more efficient products and packaging that use less raw materials and energy. Their widespread use has avoided hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 emissions annually.
3) Recovery of plastic waste through recycling or energy recovery prevents emissions from landfilling and provides energy sources with lower carbon footprints than other materials. Substituting plastics could increase global emissions by hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 per year.
This document summarizes research on improving Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for the conversion of lignin-derived aromatic compounds into biofuels and bioproducts. Adaptive laboratory evolution was used to evolve P. putida strains with improved tolerance to the hydroxycinnamic acids p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Evolved strains showed significant decreases in lag phase and increases in growth rate in high concentrations of these acids. Whole genome sequencing identified genetic mutations conferring these improvements, including in genes like PP_3350 and ttgB. Deletion of these genes in the wild type strain verified their roles in tolerance. This work identifies new targets for engineering P. putida's ability to utilize aromatic compounds
This document summarizes an approach for de novo DNA synthesis using polymerase nucleotide conjugates. The approach involves conjugating each polymerase molecule with a single nucleotide triphosphate. Incorporation of the tethered nucleotide leaves the polymerase bound to the extended primer. Cleaving the linkage allows further extension. This enables enzymatic synthesis of a 10-mer oligonucleotide, representing a promising starting point for practical enzymatic DNA synthesis.
The document discusses several studies related to pectin biopolymers and their mechanical properties. One study found that pectin film resilience correlated with polymer network density and burst strength was independent of polymer association density and water content from 5-30%. Another study used acoustic emission monitoring to investigate glass and gel phase pectin films under loading and found the films exhibited stick-slip motion correlated with water content. A third study separated ER and Golgi membranes with electrophoresis, identifying over 200 proteins involved in polysaccharide synthesis and trafficking.
The document describes three studies related to biofuels and bioproducts:
1) A study characterized a novel lactam biosensor from Pseudomonas putida with unprecedented sensitivity for valerolactam and caprolactam. Through engineering, they developed biosensors with a wide dynamic range.
2) A study used quantum calculations and simulations to understand how Keggin-type polyoxometalate ionic liquids dissolve lignin. Calculations showed interactions between the ionic liquid and lignin model compound.
3) A study determined the mechanism of regioselectivity in an unusual bacterial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, TcsD, which catalyzes terminal alkene formation. Struct
The document discusses standard flow liquid chromatography for shotgun proteomics in bioenergy research. The approach assesses the suitability of this proteomics platform using samples from Escherichia coli and Arabidopsis thaliana, which are commonly used model systems. Nearly 800 proteins from E. coli samples and over 1,000 proteins from A. thaliana samples were reliably identified. The results indicate this is a robust approach for analyzing complex bioenergy samples, providing reproducibility between replicates.
This document discusses several studies related to feedstocks for aviation biofuels. It provides an overview of major feedstock options globally, including their regional production, challenges to increasing production levels, and forecasts for bioenergy use to 2050. While multiple feedstocks will likely be required, the availability and logistics of feedstocks may be the main determinants in what fuels are produced and where. Significant research, development, and infrastructure investments are still needed to enable aviation biofuels to replace fossil fuels, but there is likely sufficient global feedstock potential if road transport biofuel demand decreases through electric vehicle advancements.
This document summarizes three papers related to engineering plant metabolism and microbial physiology.
The first paper describes engineering the brassinin biosynthetic pathway in plants to produce novel antifungal compounds called crucifalexins. Two of the new compounds showed stronger antifungal activity than brassinin.
The second paper discusses using solid-state NMR to characterize the native architecture of plant cell walls without disruption. This provides information to engineer bioenergy crops.
The third paper combines mechanistic and machine learning models to predictively engineer and optimize tryptophan metabolism in microbes. This approach increased tryptophan titer and productivity by up to 74% and 43% compared to an improved reference strain.
IRJET- Bioelectricity Production from Seafood Processing Wastewater using...IRJET Journal
This document summarizes a study on generating bioelectricity from seafood processing wastewater using a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The researchers constructed a dual-chamber MFC with a salt bridge separator and inoculated it with anaerobic sludge. They operated the MFC in batch mode, filling the anode chamber with seafood wastewater. The MFC generated a maximum voltage of 988 mV at 1000 ohms resistance, corresponding to maximum current density of 2996.664 mA/m2 and power density of 2960.704 mW/m2. The MFC achieved a 77.33% COD removal efficiency and 84.32% phosphate removal efficiency at a hydraulic retention time of
This document summarizes the key outcomes, background, significance, and approach of a study that investigated the effects of glycerol thermal processing (GTP) on lignin structure through NMR analysis. The main outcomes were that GTP effectively breaks bonds within lignin, generating smaller molecular weight lignin fragments that are thermally stable up to temperatures over 290°C. The background discusses utilizing lignin for specialty products. The significance is that GTP generates lignin suitable for use as a thermoplastic co-product. The approach involved comparing the properties of GTP lignin to lignin from other processes through structural analysis.
This document discusses an integrated acetic acid based one-pot ethanolamine acetate pretreatment process for efficient depolymerization of poplar polysaccharides. Key points:
(1) The new process simultaneously removes 88% of hemicellulose and extracts up to 46% of lignin from poplar biomass.
(2) It yields over 80% enzyme-hydrolyzed glucose, attributed to increased accessible surface area of cellulose.
(3) Analysis indicates the ionic liquid component is a good lignin solvent, leading to higher delignification.
Overall, integrating ionic liquid with acid pretreatment is a promising strategy for effective pretreatment of woody lignocellulose.
1) Plastics contribute significantly to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions compared to alternative materials due to their lightweight and durable properties.
2) Substituting plastics would increase energy use and emissions in most applications. Plastics enable major savings through insulation, packaging, and renewable energy production.
3) Estimates show the greenhouse gas reductions from plastics use are 5-9 times greater than emissions from production and disposal. Future reductions are projected to be even larger.
The characteristic of pelleted broiler litter biochar derived from pilot scal...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study that compared the characteristics of biochar produced from pelleted broiler litter using two different pyrolysis methods. Biochar was produced using a pilot-scale pyrolysis reactor (PBLBP) and a 200-liter oil drum kiln (PBLBO) at 500°C for 5 hours. Testing found that PBLBO had a higher surface area, total pore volume, and content of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, organic matter, and cation exchange capacity compared to PBLBP. However, PBLBP had a higher nitrogen and moisture content. No heavy metals were detected in either biochar. The study concludes that biochar produced in the 200-liter oil drum kiln
Biological Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles and its impact - a Reviewinventionjournals
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Science Invention (IJPSI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Pahrmaceutical Science. IJPSI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
The document describes a study that engineered the chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus denitrificans to enhance fatty acid production. A thioesterase gene from E. coli was integrated into the T. denitrificans chromosome under control of different promoters. This led to up to 52-fold higher fatty acid titers compared to the wild-type strain when the bacteria were grown anaerobically using reduced sulfur compounds, nitrate, and carbon dioxide. The results demonstrate the potential to engineer sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to produce renewable fuels from sulfide-containing waste streams.
JBEI Research Highlights - February 2017Irina Silva
This document summarizes a study investigating the enzymatic degradation of lignin model compounds by versatile peroxidase (VP). The key findings are:
1) VP can catalyze both the polymerization and depolymerization of lignin, with the reaction pathway depending on factors like pH, H2O2 concentration, and the functional groups on the lignin compounds.
2) Degradation of phenolic β-O-4 lignin dimers by VP proceeds through oxidation, followed by competing polymerization or depolymerization reactions depending on conditions.
3) The functional group at the 5 position of guaiacyl units influences whether polymerization or depolymerization occurs.
EVE Innovations has developed a patented process that converts organic waste into a solid biofuel with an energy density comparable to coal. The process is cost-effective and environmentally friendly as it produces no sulfur, nitrous oxides, or heavy metals when burned. Testing shows the biofuel burns cleaner than coal and can be produced from a variety of waste materials. EVE Innovations licenses the technology and seeks to commercialize the biofuel as a green replacement for coal.
This document summarizes a research article that studied the transport of the antibiotic tetracycline (Tet) in Escherichia coli. The key findings are:
1. Tet is transported into E. coli cells by three transporters: TetA, TetB, and TetH.
2. TetA is a primary transporter that uses ATP hydrolysis to actively transport Tet into cells. TetB and TetH are secondary transporters that harness gradients to transport Tet.
3. Experiments showed TetA is the major transporter and is responsible for most Tet uptake. TetB and TetH play lesser but still significant roles in Tet transport.
4. Understanding the roles and interactions of these
The document summarizes the outcomes and significance of research from three Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs). The key points are:
- The BRCs have published over 1,900 papers from 2008-2014 with over 30,000 citations, advancing the scientific understanding of bioenergy.
- 10% of BRC papers were published in high impact journals with an impact factor over 9.
- The BRCs collaborated with other DOE facilities and had successful technology transfer activities to help commercialize bioenergy.
- The coordinated multi-institutional efforts of the BRCs exemplify the power of "big science" to further bioenergy research and development.
March 2021 - JBEI Research Highlight SlidesSaraHarmon4
This study evaluated the use of ionic liquids (ILs) for pretreatment of woody biomass to enable efficient deconstruction. Specifically, it compared protic and aprotic ILs for pretreatment of pine wood at the bench scale. Protic ILs like cholinium lysinate achieved 80% glucose and 70% xylose yields at high solids loading of 20%, representing an effective pretreatment. For the first time, an aprotic IL containing the ions 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium and acetate was shown to significantly improve the enzymatic digestibility of pine wood compared to untreated biomass. This work demonstrates the potential of developing new IL systems for low-cost and high-efficiency pret
The document summarizes the educational background and research of Nishith Verma. It describes his B.Tech from Kanpur in 2009, M.Tech from Rourkela in 2011, and Ph.D from IIT Kanpur in chemical engineering under Professor Nishith Verma. It then outlines Verma's research developing polymer nanocomposites functionalized with nanoparticles and carbon nanofibers for environmental and energy applications. Some key contributions include developing methods to incorporate nanoparticles in-situ during polymerization for stable dispersion and exposure, and using carbon nanofibers to enhance mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Verma has several related patents and publications on using these materials for water treatment, antibacterial
The document summarizes the state of wastewater treatment technologies. It discusses best available technologies (BAT) as those proven effective and efficient. The core BATs are intensive and extensive biological treatment technologies. Intensive technologies use suspended biomass in activated sludge or attached biomass in trickling filters. Extensive technologies include constructed wetlands, lagoons, and biological lakes. Driving forces for development include legislation, climate change, water scarcity, and energy efficiency goals. While wastewater has some energy potential, it represents a small fraction of typical plant or household energy usage.
JBEI Research Highlights - February 2018Irina Silva
- A mixture of 42 wt.% [C2C1Im][OAc] ionic liquid and 58 wt.% DMSO was found to be an optimal pretreatment solution for switchgrass biomass.
- Pretreating switchgrass with this mixture generated hydrolysates that supported high yields of isoprenol production by an engineered E. coli strain, with yields of up to 24.5 g/kg switchgrass.
- The study demonstrates the potential of using DMSO to reduce the amount and cost of ionic liquids used in pretreatment while still achieving high sugar release and fermentation yields.
The document summarizes research on biomass to chemicals being conducted by the Biomass to Chemicals Research Community (BRC-Oulu) at the University of Oulu. The research focuses on developing activated carbon from biomass for applications such as water purification, catalyst support, and battery anodes. The team has capabilities for carbonizing and activating biomass and has produced activated carbons with surface areas up to 2300 m2/g. The research also includes developing biomass-derived catalysts for fuel and chemical production and pretreatment techniques to improve biomass processing. In conclusion, the research has established expertise in biomass conversion and opportunities exist for further collaboration.
This document describes a study that tested a new 1800 liter capacity bioreactor model for producing biogas from municipal solid waste in Nepal. The bioreactor was loaded with 550 kg of municipal solid waste diluted with 550 liters of bio-slurry. After 16 days, the bioreactor produced 28.3 liters of biogas per kg of waste. The digested slurry contained nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and had a pH of 7.2. The new bioreactor design shows potential for producing biogas and biofertilizer from municipal solid waste on a larger scale to address environmental issues.
This document summarizes a study that developed an optimized process for the sustainable bioproduction of the blue pigment indigoidine by the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. Key findings include:
- R. toruloides was engineered to produce indigoidine, achieving a high titer of 85 g/L from glucose and demonstrating production from renewable carbon sources like sorghum hydrolysates.
- This represents the first heterologous production of a non-ribosomal peptide (NRP) in R. toruloides, extending the range of microbial hosts that can produce NRPs sustainably.
- Production of indigoidine demonstrates an alternative biobased route
This document discusses the topic of catalysis through definitions, properties, and examples. It defines catalysis as a process where a substance called a catalyst speeds up a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy without being consumed. Common catalysts include transition metals which provide vacant orbitals for substrate bonding. The document provides examples of catalysis in industrial chemical production and biological systems like photosynthesis. It also explains how catalysts work by providing an alternative reaction pathway requiring less energy.
This document discusses enzyme cofactors and vitamins. It states that many enzymes require cofactors like metal ions or small organic molecules called coenzymes to be active. Coenzymes are often vitamins. Vitamins can be water-soluble and not stored in the body or fat-soluble and stored. Both types serve as cofactors for enzymes involved in important body processes. The document provides details on specific water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and niacin, and fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A and D. It includes their roles, recommended daily amounts and deficiency symptoms.
This document discusses several studies related to feedstocks for aviation biofuels. It provides an overview of major feedstock options globally, including their regional production, challenges to increasing production levels, and forecasts for bioenergy use to 2050. While multiple feedstocks will likely be required, the availability and logistics of feedstocks may be the main determinants in what fuels are produced and where. Significant research, development, and infrastructure investments are still needed to enable aviation biofuels to replace fossil fuels, but there is likely sufficient global feedstock potential if road transport biofuel demand decreases through electric vehicle advancements.
This document summarizes three papers related to engineering plant metabolism and microbial physiology.
The first paper describes engineering the brassinin biosynthetic pathway in plants to produce novel antifungal compounds called crucifalexins. Two of the new compounds showed stronger antifungal activity than brassinin.
The second paper discusses using solid-state NMR to characterize the native architecture of plant cell walls without disruption. This provides information to engineer bioenergy crops.
The third paper combines mechanistic and machine learning models to predictively engineer and optimize tryptophan metabolism in microbes. This approach increased tryptophan titer and productivity by up to 74% and 43% compared to an improved reference strain.
IRJET- Bioelectricity Production from Seafood Processing Wastewater using...IRJET Journal
This document summarizes a study on generating bioelectricity from seafood processing wastewater using a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The researchers constructed a dual-chamber MFC with a salt bridge separator and inoculated it with anaerobic sludge. They operated the MFC in batch mode, filling the anode chamber with seafood wastewater. The MFC generated a maximum voltage of 988 mV at 1000 ohms resistance, corresponding to maximum current density of 2996.664 mA/m2 and power density of 2960.704 mW/m2. The MFC achieved a 77.33% COD removal efficiency and 84.32% phosphate removal efficiency at a hydraulic retention time of
This document summarizes the key outcomes, background, significance, and approach of a study that investigated the effects of glycerol thermal processing (GTP) on lignin structure through NMR analysis. The main outcomes were that GTP effectively breaks bonds within lignin, generating smaller molecular weight lignin fragments that are thermally stable up to temperatures over 290°C. The background discusses utilizing lignin for specialty products. The significance is that GTP generates lignin suitable for use as a thermoplastic co-product. The approach involved comparing the properties of GTP lignin to lignin from other processes through structural analysis.
This document discusses an integrated acetic acid based one-pot ethanolamine acetate pretreatment process for efficient depolymerization of poplar polysaccharides. Key points:
(1) The new process simultaneously removes 88% of hemicellulose and extracts up to 46% of lignin from poplar biomass.
(2) It yields over 80% enzyme-hydrolyzed glucose, attributed to increased accessible surface area of cellulose.
(3) Analysis indicates the ionic liquid component is a good lignin solvent, leading to higher delignification.
Overall, integrating ionic liquid with acid pretreatment is a promising strategy for effective pretreatment of woody lignocellulose.
1) Plastics contribute significantly to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions compared to alternative materials due to their lightweight and durable properties.
2) Substituting plastics would increase energy use and emissions in most applications. Plastics enable major savings through insulation, packaging, and renewable energy production.
3) Estimates show the greenhouse gas reductions from plastics use are 5-9 times greater than emissions from production and disposal. Future reductions are projected to be even larger.
The characteristic of pelleted broiler litter biochar derived from pilot scal...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study that compared the characteristics of biochar produced from pelleted broiler litter using two different pyrolysis methods. Biochar was produced using a pilot-scale pyrolysis reactor (PBLBP) and a 200-liter oil drum kiln (PBLBO) at 500°C for 5 hours. Testing found that PBLBO had a higher surface area, total pore volume, and content of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, organic matter, and cation exchange capacity compared to PBLBP. However, PBLBP had a higher nitrogen and moisture content. No heavy metals were detected in either biochar. The study concludes that biochar produced in the 200-liter oil drum kiln
Biological Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles and its impact - a Reviewinventionjournals
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Science Invention (IJPSI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Pahrmaceutical Science. IJPSI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
The document describes a study that engineered the chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus denitrificans to enhance fatty acid production. A thioesterase gene from E. coli was integrated into the T. denitrificans chromosome under control of different promoters. This led to up to 52-fold higher fatty acid titers compared to the wild-type strain when the bacteria were grown anaerobically using reduced sulfur compounds, nitrate, and carbon dioxide. The results demonstrate the potential to engineer sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to produce renewable fuels from sulfide-containing waste streams.
JBEI Research Highlights - February 2017Irina Silva
This document summarizes a study investigating the enzymatic degradation of lignin model compounds by versatile peroxidase (VP). The key findings are:
1) VP can catalyze both the polymerization and depolymerization of lignin, with the reaction pathway depending on factors like pH, H2O2 concentration, and the functional groups on the lignin compounds.
2) Degradation of phenolic β-O-4 lignin dimers by VP proceeds through oxidation, followed by competing polymerization or depolymerization reactions depending on conditions.
3) The functional group at the 5 position of guaiacyl units influences whether polymerization or depolymerization occurs.
EVE Innovations has developed a patented process that converts organic waste into a solid biofuel with an energy density comparable to coal. The process is cost-effective and environmentally friendly as it produces no sulfur, nitrous oxides, or heavy metals when burned. Testing shows the biofuel burns cleaner than coal and can be produced from a variety of waste materials. EVE Innovations licenses the technology and seeks to commercialize the biofuel as a green replacement for coal.
This document summarizes a research article that studied the transport of the antibiotic tetracycline (Tet) in Escherichia coli. The key findings are:
1. Tet is transported into E. coli cells by three transporters: TetA, TetB, and TetH.
2. TetA is a primary transporter that uses ATP hydrolysis to actively transport Tet into cells. TetB and TetH are secondary transporters that harness gradients to transport Tet.
3. Experiments showed TetA is the major transporter and is responsible for most Tet uptake. TetB and TetH play lesser but still significant roles in Tet transport.
4. Understanding the roles and interactions of these
The document summarizes the outcomes and significance of research from three Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs). The key points are:
- The BRCs have published over 1,900 papers from 2008-2014 with over 30,000 citations, advancing the scientific understanding of bioenergy.
- 10% of BRC papers were published in high impact journals with an impact factor over 9.
- The BRCs collaborated with other DOE facilities and had successful technology transfer activities to help commercialize bioenergy.
- The coordinated multi-institutional efforts of the BRCs exemplify the power of "big science" to further bioenergy research and development.
March 2021 - JBEI Research Highlight SlidesSaraHarmon4
This study evaluated the use of ionic liquids (ILs) for pretreatment of woody biomass to enable efficient deconstruction. Specifically, it compared protic and aprotic ILs for pretreatment of pine wood at the bench scale. Protic ILs like cholinium lysinate achieved 80% glucose and 70% xylose yields at high solids loading of 20%, representing an effective pretreatment. For the first time, an aprotic IL containing the ions 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium and acetate was shown to significantly improve the enzymatic digestibility of pine wood compared to untreated biomass. This work demonstrates the potential of developing new IL systems for low-cost and high-efficiency pret
The document summarizes the educational background and research of Nishith Verma. It describes his B.Tech from Kanpur in 2009, M.Tech from Rourkela in 2011, and Ph.D from IIT Kanpur in chemical engineering under Professor Nishith Verma. It then outlines Verma's research developing polymer nanocomposites functionalized with nanoparticles and carbon nanofibers for environmental and energy applications. Some key contributions include developing methods to incorporate nanoparticles in-situ during polymerization for stable dispersion and exposure, and using carbon nanofibers to enhance mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Verma has several related patents and publications on using these materials for water treatment, antibacterial
The document summarizes the state of wastewater treatment technologies. It discusses best available technologies (BAT) as those proven effective and efficient. The core BATs are intensive and extensive biological treatment technologies. Intensive technologies use suspended biomass in activated sludge or attached biomass in trickling filters. Extensive technologies include constructed wetlands, lagoons, and biological lakes. Driving forces for development include legislation, climate change, water scarcity, and energy efficiency goals. While wastewater has some energy potential, it represents a small fraction of typical plant or household energy usage.
JBEI Research Highlights - February 2018Irina Silva
- A mixture of 42 wt.% [C2C1Im][OAc] ionic liquid and 58 wt.% DMSO was found to be an optimal pretreatment solution for switchgrass biomass.
- Pretreating switchgrass with this mixture generated hydrolysates that supported high yields of isoprenol production by an engineered E. coli strain, with yields of up to 24.5 g/kg switchgrass.
- The study demonstrates the potential of using DMSO to reduce the amount and cost of ionic liquids used in pretreatment while still achieving high sugar release and fermentation yields.
The document summarizes research on biomass to chemicals being conducted by the Biomass to Chemicals Research Community (BRC-Oulu) at the University of Oulu. The research focuses on developing activated carbon from biomass for applications such as water purification, catalyst support, and battery anodes. The team has capabilities for carbonizing and activating biomass and has produced activated carbons with surface areas up to 2300 m2/g. The research also includes developing biomass-derived catalysts for fuel and chemical production and pretreatment techniques to improve biomass processing. In conclusion, the research has established expertise in biomass conversion and opportunities exist for further collaboration.
This document describes a study that tested a new 1800 liter capacity bioreactor model for producing biogas from municipal solid waste in Nepal. The bioreactor was loaded with 550 kg of municipal solid waste diluted with 550 liters of bio-slurry. After 16 days, the bioreactor produced 28.3 liters of biogas per kg of waste. The digested slurry contained nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and had a pH of 7.2. The new bioreactor design shows potential for producing biogas and biofertilizer from municipal solid waste on a larger scale to address environmental issues.
This document summarizes a study that developed an optimized process for the sustainable bioproduction of the blue pigment indigoidine by the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. Key findings include:
- R. toruloides was engineered to produce indigoidine, achieving a high titer of 85 g/L from glucose and demonstrating production from renewable carbon sources like sorghum hydrolysates.
- This represents the first heterologous production of a non-ribosomal peptide (NRP) in R. toruloides, extending the range of microbial hosts that can produce NRPs sustainably.
- Production of indigoidine demonstrates an alternative biobased route
This document discusses the topic of catalysis through definitions, properties, and examples. It defines catalysis as a process where a substance called a catalyst speeds up a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy without being consumed. Common catalysts include transition metals which provide vacant orbitals for substrate bonding. The document provides examples of catalysis in industrial chemical production and biological systems like photosynthesis. It also explains how catalysts work by providing an alternative reaction pathway requiring less energy.
This document discusses enzyme cofactors and vitamins. It states that many enzymes require cofactors like metal ions or small organic molecules called coenzymes to be active. Coenzymes are often vitamins. Vitamins can be water-soluble and not stored in the body or fat-soluble and stored. Both types serve as cofactors for enzymes involved in important body processes. The document provides details on specific water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and niacin, and fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A and D. It includes their roles, recommended daily amounts and deficiency symptoms.
Vitamins as coenzymes, different forms and deficiency disorders Lovnish Thakur
Vitamins are organic compounds which are needed in small quantities to sustain life.
Get from food, because the human body either does not produce enough of them, or none at all
The document discusses allosteric regulation of enzymes. Allosteric enzymes can exist in two conformations - an active form which can bind substrate and an inactive form which binds inhibitors. Effectors like substrates or inhibitors binding at allosteric sites can stabilize one form over the other. One example discussed is aspartate transcarbamoylase which regulates pyrimidine synthesis and shows cooperative substrate binding and allosteric regulation by ATP and CTP.
The document discusses enzymes and their classification. It defines enzymes as biological catalysts that are usually proteins and increase the rate of chemical reactions. It describes the six main classes of enzymes based on their catalytic activity as well as the Enzyme Commission (EC) numbering system. The key points are that enzymes have unique active sites that substrates fit into, they are most active at optimal temperatures and pH levels, and their reaction rates depend on enzyme and substrate concentrations.
According to the International Union of Biochemistry, enzymes are classified into six major classes:
1. Oxidoreductases catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions and are divided into oxidases, anaerobic dehydrogenases, and hydroperoxidases.
2. Transferases catalyze group transfers and include methyl, carboxyl, aldehyde/keto, glucosyl, amino, phosphorus, acyl, and sulfur transferases.
3. Hydrolases catalyze hydrolysis reactions and include esterases, glycosidases, peptidases, deamidases, and phosphatases acting on acid anhydrides.
4. Lyases cleave groups from substrates without
Oligomeric enzymes consist of two or more polypeptide chains linked together by non-covalent interactions. Examples of oligomeric enzymes include lactate dehydrogenase, which is a tetramer, and tryptophan synthase, which contains two different subunits that each have distinct catalytic functions. Oligomeric enzyme organization allows for complex regulation through allostery and feedback inhibition not possible with monomeric enzymes.
Lingzhi is a mushroom. Its botanical name is Ganoderma. The Japanese calls it Reishi.
It’s a functional food, not medicine. Read more about Lingzhi, benefits, and frequently asked questions.
This slide made by Leona Chin, you may use it to gain more info about Lingzhi. We learn and we share. Do your part and share this useful information to others so that they know how good Lingzhi really is. I hope it will help you in your business and knowledge. All the best in Shuang Hor Business. Go Diamond!
Geological Evidence for photosynthesis, mechanisms of evolution, evolution of co-factors, evolution of protein complexes, photosynthetic reaction centers and electron transport chains
Dr. B. Victor presented on the biochemical principles of enzyme action. Some key points include: enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts to lower the activation energy of biochemical reactions; they have an active site that binds specifically to substrates; the lock and key and induced fit models describe how enzymes and substrates interact; factors like temperature, pH, and inhibitors can impact an enzyme's activity level; and coenzymes, isoenzymes, and allosteric enzymes are types of modified enzymes. Dr. Victor has over 30 years experience teaching biochemistry and guiding PhD students.
Enzymes can be used as diagnostic tools by measuring their levels in serum. Tissue or cellular damage results in the release of intracellular enzymes into the bloodstream, increasing their serum levels. Some key enzymes used for diagnosis include lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, and amylase/lipase. Each enzyme is predominantly found in certain tissues, so elevated levels can indicate damage to those tissues. Isoenzymes provide further diagnostic information about the specific organ affected.
This document discusses enzyme regulation and the roles of cofactors and vitamins in enzyme function. It explains that enzymes are regulated through genetic control, covalent modification, and feedback inhibition. Coenzymes, which include vitamins and metal ions, are required for many enzyme reactions. Deficiencies in water-soluble vitamins can result since they are not stored, while fat-soluble vitamin excesses can be toxic. The roles of specific vitamins as coenzymes are outlined.
This document summarizes the classification of enzymes. It discusses the six main classes of enzymes: oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases or synthetases. Examples are provided for each class. It also briefly discusses catalytic sites and the mechanisms of enzyme action, including Fischer's lock and key model and Koshland's induced fit model.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against developing mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already suffer from conditions like anxiety and depression.
Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions in cells without being altered. Glycolysis uses enzymes like dehydrogenase to break down glucose into pyruvate, producing ATP in the cytoplasm. The citric acid cycle uses enzymatic reactions in mitochondria to further oxidize pyruvate, producing more ATP. Oxidative phosphorylation is the final step of respiration, using an electron transport chain and ATP synthase to generate most of the cell's ATP through phosphorylation.
Contains over 200 different compounds such as selenium, germanium, allicin, 17 amino acids, 33 organosulphur compounds, vitamin B1, B2, B3, C and more.
The document discusses the structures of chlorophyll and hemoglobin, both of which are metalloporphyrin complexes. Chlorophyll contains magnesium at its center and is responsible for photosynthesis in plants, while hemoglobin contains iron and transports oxygen in red blood cells through reversible binding with oxygen molecules. Hemoglobin delivers oxygen to tissues and picks up carbon dioxide to transport back to the lungs, playing a vital role in cellular respiration throughout the body.
JBEI Research Highlights - February 2022SaraHarmon4
The document describes a modular automated workflow for high-throughput proteomic sample preparation that improves reproducibility and flexibility. Key points:
- The workflow modularizes and automates sample preparation steps separately using liquid handlers, enabling rapid processing of hundreds of samples with low variance.
- It was demonstrated on bacteria and yeast samples, showing high reproducibility.
- Digital protocols were created to facilitate transferring the methods and allowing flexibility for future development.
This document discusses biogas production from kitchen waste through anaerobic digestion. It begins with an introduction on the need for renewable energy sources like biogas. It then discusses the characteristics and benefits of biogas. The document outlines the anaerobic digestion process and factors that affect biogas yield. It reviews literature on biogas production from organic waste. The objectives and work plan of the project to set up laboratory-scale biogas digesters using kitchen waste from NIT Rourkela hostels are presented. The document discusses the experimental setup, procedures, results and analyses from the study. It concludes with a case study comparison and analysis of the laboratory-scale biogas production process.
The document describes a study that developed robust models using mid-infrared, near-infrared, and Raman spectroscopy to rapidly predict the lignin syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratio in plant biomass samples. Raman and mid-infrared spectroscopy led to the most accurate predictive models. The high-throughput Raman model allowed prediction of S/G ratio in 269 unknown eucalypt and acacia samples with an accuracy equivalent to standard methods, enabling faster screening of plant species for biofuel research.
Electricity Generation from Biogas Produced in a Lab-Scale Anaerobic Digester...inventionjournals
The sludge produced during wastewater treatment should be stabilized in order to minimize the damage to the environment. This study includes the evaluation of sludge stabilization and biogas formation by anaerobic digestion in order to generate electricity using stirling motor.The study was carried out with the raw sludge form the thickener of the wastewatertreatment plant. The main aim of the study is to provide sludge stabilization resulting biogas production by reduction of organic matter and to generate electricity. Anaerobic digestion studies were carried out using a laboratory scale anaerobic reactor with a volume of 7L.Under themesophilic condition, the sludge age was maintained at 10 days during the first 20 days of operation, while the reactor was operated for 90 days until the end of the run, with a sludge age of 20 days.The results have changed in the range of 42-52% after the organic matter reduction obtained from the anaerobic digestion. Concentrations of 3735.7300 ppm, 5060.5768 ppm, and 6951.4013 ppm biogas were obtained. Biogas was turned on by mechanical energy with a Stirlingmotor and then turned to direct current and the lamps with 3V 20mA each were run for 60 minutes
Hyderabad | Sep-16 | Sustainable biofuels from large scale algal culture by u...Smart Villages
This document discusses using bioprocess technology to produce sustainable biofuels from large-scale algal culture. Specifically, it experimentally proves that combining plug flow reactors with airlift fermenters on a large scale can sustainably generate biofuels by harvesting light with algae. This process allows for continuous fermentation, biomass separation with only sparging required, and generates algal biomass in self-sustaining airlift fermenters. Algae are also efficient producers of oil and biomass and have higher photosynthetic efficiency and growth rates than plants. The document concludes that microalgae have much higher biofuel yields than other feedstocks and can use non-arable land, making them a promising
This document summarizes a project studying the use of red mud and pure metal oxides as potential catalysts for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of food waste. The goal is to find a cheaper alternative to the commercial Ceria Zirconia catalyst. HTL converts biomass into liquid biofuel using water at high pressure and temperature. Previous studies show Ceria Zirconia improves biooil yield but is costly to reuse. Red mud, a low-cost byproduct, contains metal oxides that could achieve the desired base chemistry. The project will compare the impact of red mud and pure metal oxide catalysts to Ceria Zirconia on biooil production from food waste.
FABRICATION OF A SIMPLE BUBBLE COLUMN CO2 CAPTURE UNIT UTILIZING MICROALGAE ijbbjournal
This paper focuses on the fabrication of a vertical column CO2 bioreactor and the experimentation of
microalgae. On the manufacturing aspect of the project, the base design was modelled on Solidworks and
assigned a material. The model was then loaded onto a finite element analysis (FEA) software to determine
various engineering stresses and strains to confirm the specimen’s strength. Once the simulation had
completed, the model was ready for 3-D printing. The species of microalgae to be used in this study was
Chlorella Vulgaris. The medium solution was prepared by mixing many types of salts suitable for this type
of algae. Experimental trials of algae growth were conducted mainly to see whether the algae would indeed
grow more rapidly using the developed medium. After failure in early trials, some experiments were
conducted to determine which concentration of stock solution would be the most ideal for the algae to grow
in. These early experiments proved the major impacts of the concentration of the medium on the rate of
growth of the algae. The knowledge gained in these experiments will be instrumental during the next stages
of this project.
FABRICATION OF A SIMPLE BUBBLE COLUMN CO2 CAPTURE UNIT UTILIZING MICROALGAEijbbjournal
This document summarizes the fabrication of a vertical column photobioreactor to capture CO2 using microalgae. It describes the design and 3D printing of the reactor base, cultivation of Chlorella Vulgaris microalgae in the reactor, and experimental trials testing different growth medium concentrations. The best growth was found at a 20% concentration. The reactor design aims to efficiently capture CO2 from flue gases through microalgae photosynthesis in a controlled environment.
The document describes an industrial plant for producing biodiesel from algae. It discusses the multi-step process including growing algae phototrophically in photobioreactors, extracting the algal oil, and converting the oil to biodiesel. Key aspects of the process include nutrient delivery and monitoring, light exposure and mixing to maximize photosynthesis, and mechanical designs to optimize the culture and extraction. The biodiesel produced can replace diesel fuel completely and meets European environmental regulations.
This document discusses several papers that apply machine learning and multi-omics data to predict metabolic pathway dynamics.
- One paper develops a machine learning approach using proteomics data instead of kinetic modeling to accurately predict metabolite concentrations. This approach provides faster development of predictive models since it infers knowledge from data rather than requiring domain expertise.
- Another paper applies machine learning and multi-omics data to quantitatively predict production of the biofuel isopentenol from limited training data.
- A third paper reviews how knowledge engineering and data-driven frameworks using machine learning can offer new constraints for mechanistic models to better describe cellular regulation and design metabolic pathways. This facilitates "learn and design" for strain development.
This study developed genetic tools for the thermophilic fungus Thermoascus aurantiacus, including a transformation system, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and sexual crossing protocol. The transformation system was used to overexpress a transcriptional regulator of xylanase, increasing xylanase activity by up to 500%. CRISPR/Cas9 was shown to successfully delete a target gene with 10-35% efficiency. A sexual crossing protocol allowed crossing and isolation of progeny within a week, enabling strain engineering in this industrially relevant fungus. These tools open new possibilities for engineering thermostable enzyme production in T. aurantiacus.
1) The document describes a study on optimizing an anaerobic reactor for treating wastewater from a dairy industry. 2) Two types of reactors were tested - one with a fixed film media and one with a floating film media. 3) The fixed film media reactor achieved 87-91% COD removal, while the floating film media reactor achieved 84-86% removal as the hydraulic retention time was increased from 5.3 to 5.9 m3/day over 4 weeks.
Biogas Petrol Blend Development and Testing as Alternative Fuel for Spark Ign...ijtsrd
The goal of this study is to create and test a biogas petrol mixture that can power spark ignition engines. A biogas petrol blend with a 20 80 ratio was created as a substitute fuel for spark ignition engines. To evaluate the performance of the fuels, comparison tests using gasoline and a biogas petrol combination were conducted on the test bed. The experiments findings demonstrated that the biogas petroleum blend produced higher torque, brake power, indicated power, brake thermal efficiency, and brake mean effective pressure yet used less fuel and heated the exhaust less than gasoline. According to the studys findings, a biogas petrol mix spark ignition engine was shown to be cheap, use less fuel, and contribute to sanitation and fertiliser production. Prof. Mihir Kumar Pandey | Anil Kumar Dwivedi "Biogas-Petrol Blend Development and Testing as Alternative Fuel for Spark Ignition Engine" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-1 , February 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd52718.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/mechanical-engineering/52718/biogaspetrol-blend-development-and-testing-as-alternative-fuel-for-spark-ignition-engine/prof-mihir-kumar-pandey
JBEI Research Highlights - January 2017Irina Silva
The document describes a study that engineered E. coli strains to overexpress the ptsI gene involved in glucose uptake. The strains were cultivated under nitrogen starvation conditions to limit growth during production. Overexpression of ptsI maintained higher glucose uptake and metabolic rates under starvation, leading to a fourfold increase in fatty alcohol production compared to exponential growth. The results demonstrate the potential of limiting growth through nitrogen starvation coupled with ptsI overexpression to improve biofuel and bioproduct yields in E. coli.
This document summarizes three papers related to biological and environmental research. The first paper discusses a review of scaling up ionic liquid-based biomass conversion processes and highlights their advantages for bioenergy. The second paper reviews applications of targeted proteomics in metabolic engineering and its potential integration with machine learning. The third paper describes a microfluidic system that automates CRISPR-based strain engineering at scale.
This presentation discusses biogas production from garbage through anaerobic digestion. It defines biogas as a combustible gas produced through biological breakdown of organic matter without oxygen. The presentation outlines the four stages of anaerobic digestion: hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. It also discusses factors that affect biogas production such as temperature, pH, carbon/nitrogen ratio, organic loading rate, and hydraulic retention time. Applications of biogas include electricity generation, transportation fuel, and cooking fuel.
This brief document describes how to convert waste into energy, particularly electricity. It is a new way of waste management. It is eco-friendly and helps fight climate change which has become a global crisis.
JBEI Research Highlights - October 2021SaraHarmon4
This document summarizes a study that evaluated the potential for nutrient recovery from wet organic waste processing facilities in California to offset synthetic fertilizer demand. The study found that recovering nitrogen and phosphorus from organic waste streams through anaerobic digestion and separation techniques could meet 11% of the state's nitrogen and 29% of phosphorus fertilizer needs. Recovered nutrients would be in the form of liquid fertilizer, struvite, and compost. The approach provides a foundation for analyzing national-level nutrient flows and recovery potentials from bioenergy production.
JBEI Research Highlights Slides - September 2022SaraHarmon4
This study developed a method for in situ synthesis of protic ionic liquids (PILs) for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment. By mixing the components of the PIL ethanolamine acetate directly with biomass prior to pretreatment, similar sugar yields were achieved as compared to using pure PIL, but at significantly lower cost. Techno-economic and life-cycle analyses indicated this approach promotes improved economic and environmental benefits compared to using pure PIL. The in situ PIL synthesis method provides a simple and effective way to lower the costs and impacts of ionic liquid based biomass processing.
Similar to A new dawn for industrial photosynthesis (20)
This document describes the methodology used by Reporters Without Borders to compile their annual World Press Freedom Index. They measure press freedom in 180 countries based on a questionnaire sent to partner organizations and a network of correspondents. Countries are assigned a score and ranking based on six criteria related to media pluralism, independence, censorship environment, legal framework, transparency, and infrastructure. A violence score is also incorporated based on monitoring of attacks on journalists. Armed conflicts have had a negative impact on several countries' rankings in the 2014 index due to increased dangers for journalists and media censorship.
This document summarizes a report on the impacts of waste incinerators on human health. It finds that incinerators emit numerous toxic substances like dioxins, heavy metals, and particulate matter through stack gases, ashes, and other residues. Several epidemiological studies have associated living or working near incinerators with various health effects, including increased cancer rates, respiratory impacts, and birth defects. While modern incinerators have lower emissions of some chemicals, they still release many toxic substances through multiple pathways. Given the uncertainties around health impacts, a precautionary approach and policies prioritizing waste prevention and recycling over incineration are recommended.
Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, Ja...bueno buono good
Este documento presenta el informe del Relator Especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas tras su visita a Argentina en 2011. Resalta los avances legales en el reconocimiento de los derechos indígenas, pero señala brechas entre la ley y su implementación. Hace recomendaciones sobre temas como la tenencia de tierras, recursos, acceso a justicia y condiciones sociales y económicas de los pueblos indígenas.
This document provides an executive summary of the report "Charting Our Water Future" which was created by the 2030 Water Resources Group to analyze solutions to increasing water scarcity. The group consisted of private companies and organizations who worked with experts to develop frameworks to inform decision-making. The report found that by 2030, over a third of the world's population will live in areas facing water stress, and that current rates of increasing supply and efficiency will not meet rising demand. However, the report also finds that through measures like improving agricultural efficiency, augmenting supply, and reducing water intensity in economies, water needs can potentially be met at an affordable cost even in rapidly developing areas.
This document provides a biographical introduction to Nikola Tesla, the famous inventor. It describes how Tesla was born in 1857 in modern-day Croatia and showed an early aptitude for invention, experimenting with electricity from a young age. After studying engineering, Tesla moved to Paris and then to the United States in 1884. There, he worked for Thomas Edison before striking out on his own. The document highlights Tesla's pioneering work developing alternating current motors and polyphase systems in the late 1880s. It also discusses his groundbreaking experiments with high frequency, high voltage currents in the early 1890s. In summary, the document introduces Nikola Tesla, tracing his life and career, and provides an overview
This document describes a collection of Nikola Tesla's patents that are freely available from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patents were assembled into a PDF document using PdfEdit995 software and are available on the website The Bipolar Planet.
This document contains the confidential draft intellectual property chapter from negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between 12 countries, including the US, Japan, Canada, and Australia. It covers proposed international obligations and enforcement mechanisms for copyright, trademark, and patent law. The document combines the negotiating positions of all parties as of August 30, 2013 and was distributed to the chief negotiators after the 19th round of negotiations in Brunei. It includes proposed provisions on objectives of the chapter, definitions, national treatment, enforcement, technological protection measures, geographical indications, patents, trademarks, copyright, and other issues.
The document outlines draft provisions for an agreement on trade in services, investment, and e-commerce between the EU and US. It includes 7 chapters covering general provisions, investment, cross-border supply of services, temporary entry of natural persons, regulatory framework, electronic commerce, and exceptions. The key points are:
1. It seeks to progressively liberalize trade in services, investment, and e-commerce cooperation between the EU and US while maintaining the ability to regulate in the public interest.
2. It defines terms like natural/juridical persons, investments, cross-border supply of services, and establishes scope and coverage rules.
3. It includes provisions on market access and national treatment for investments
The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 report by Transparency International summarizes corruption levels in 177 countries based on expert opinions. No country received a perfect score of 100, indicating completely clean government. Over two-thirds of countries scored below 50, suggesting high levels of public sector corruption. While a few countries performed well, widespread corruption remains a major global problem according to the index.
The document lists pharmaceutical drugs and their batches that were involved in illegal trafficking. It includes the brand, batch number, expiry date, quantity, illegal supplier, final location, and member state for each entry. There are over 200 entries listing various drugs such as Abilify, Afiniotor, Alimta, and Avastin that were trafficked to countries including Germany, the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands by suppliers like Avimax Health and Trade KFT and Mars Distributions KFT.
This document provides a summary of the 2013 Country Reports on Terrorism published by the United States Department of State. It discusses key trends in terrorism in 2013, including the evolving threat posed by al-Qa'ida affiliates in regions like Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Northwest Africa and the Sahel, as well as the rise of increasingly violent groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It also summarizes terrorism trends and issues in other regions like South Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and assesses the ongoing threats posed by various terrorist groups around the world.
The document summarizes key trends and uncertainties in global affairs expected between now and 2020, including:
- The rise of China and India as major global economic powers, with their GDPs projected to surpass many Western countries. How their growing influence is exercised internationally is uncertain.
- Other developing countries like Brazil and Indonesia may also become important economic players.
- Europe will remain influential if it addresses issues like aging populations and immigration, but its role is uncertain.
- Russia has potential due to energy exports but faces demographic and instability challenges limiting its global role.
- Traditional geopolitical categories may become obsolete as new global actors emerge and the world becomes less state-bound.
The document summarizes the SIPRI Yearbook 2013. It covers topics such as armed conflicts, peace operations, military spending, arms production, nuclear forces, and arms control efforts. In 2012, the total number of peace operations was 53 while the number of personnel serving in these operations fell by over 10% due to withdrawals from Afghanistan. World military spending in 2012 was estimated at $1756 billion, about 0.4% lower than 2011 but still higher than any year prior to 2008 due to the global economic crisis. The largest military spenders were the US, China, UK, Russia and Japan.
This document provides a detailed summary of the Cremation of Care ceremony, a ritual performed at the annual encampment of the Bohemian Grove in Northern California. The ritual involves a procession led by hooded figures carrying an effigy of "Dull Care" to be burned. Several speeches are given attempting to burn Care, but he refuses, saying he cannot be destroyed. The ceremony's climax comes when the Owl, symbol of the Bohemian Grove, declares that only the "flame of fellowship" can overcome Care.
How to Interpret Trends in the Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart.pdfChart Kalyan
A Mix Chart displays historical data of numbers in a graphical or tabular form. The Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart specifically shows the results of a sequence of numbers over different periods.
Northern Engraving | Modern Metal Trim, Nameplates and Appliance PanelsNorthern Engraving
What began over 115 years ago as a supplier of precision gauges to the automotive industry has evolved into being an industry leader in the manufacture of product branding, automotive cockpit trim and decorative appliance trim. Value-added services include in-house Design, Engineering, Program Management, Test Lab and Tool Shops.
Discover top-tier mobile app development services, offering innovative solutions for iOS and Android. Enhance your business with custom, user-friendly mobile applications.
"Frontline Battles with DDoS: Best practices and Lessons Learned", Igor IvaniukFwdays
At this talk we will discuss DDoS protection tools and best practices, discuss network architectures and what AWS has to offer. Also, we will look into one of the largest DDoS attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that happened in February 2022. We'll see, what techniques helped to keep the web resources available for Ukrainians and how AWS improved DDoS protection for all customers based on Ukraine experience
[OReilly Superstream] Occupy the Space: A grassroots guide to engineering (an...Jason Yip
The typical problem in product engineering is not bad strategy, so much as “no strategy”. This leads to confusion, lack of motivation, and incoherent action. The next time you look for a strategy and find an empty space, instead of waiting for it to be filled, I will show you how to fill it in yourself. If you’re wrong, it forces a correction. If you’re right, it helps create focus. I’ll share how I’ve approached this in the past, both what works and lessons for what didn’t work so well.
"Choosing proper type of scaling", Olena SyrotaFwdays
Imagine an IoT processing system that is already quite mature and production-ready and for which client coverage is growing and scaling and performance aspects are life and death questions. The system has Redis, MongoDB, and stream processing based on ksqldb. In this talk, firstly, we will analyze scaling approaches and then select the proper ones for our system.
"$10 thousand per minute of downtime: architecture, queues, streaming and fin...Fwdays
Direct losses from downtime in 1 minute = $5-$10 thousand dollars. Reputation is priceless.
As part of the talk, we will consider the architectural strategies necessary for the development of highly loaded fintech solutions. We will focus on using queues and streaming to efficiently work and manage large amounts of data in real-time and to minimize latency.
We will focus special attention on the architectural patterns used in the design of the fintech system, microservices and event-driven architecture, which ensure scalability, fault tolerance, and consistency of the entire system.
This talk will cover ScyllaDB Architecture from the cluster-level view and zoom in on data distribution and internal node architecture. In the process, we will learn the secret sauce used to get ScyllaDB's high availability and superior performance. We will also touch on the upcoming changes to ScyllaDB architecture, moving to strongly consistent metadata and tablets.
The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) invited Taylor Paschal, Knowledge & Information Management Consultant at Enterprise Knowledge, to speak at a Knowledge Management Lunch and Learn hosted on June 12, 2024. All Office of Administration staff were invited to attend and received professional development credit for participating in the voluntary event.
The objectives of the Lunch and Learn presentation were to:
- Review what KM ‘is’ and ‘isn’t’
- Understand the value of KM and the benefits of engaging
- Define and reflect on your “what’s in it for me?”
- Share actionable ways you can participate in Knowledge - - Capture & Transfer
Dandelion Hashtable: beyond billion requests per second on a commodity serverAntonios Katsarakis
This slide deck presents DLHT, a concurrent in-memory hashtable. Despite efforts to optimize hashtables, that go as far as sacrificing core functionality, state-of-the-art designs still incur multiple memory accesses per request and block request processing in three cases. First, most hashtables block while waiting for data to be retrieved from memory. Second, open-addressing designs, which represent the current state-of-the-art, either cannot free index slots on deletes or must block all requests to do so. Third, index resizes block every request until all objects are copied to the new index. Defying folklore wisdom, DLHT forgoes open-addressing and adopts a fully-featured and memory-aware closed-addressing design based on bounded cache-line-chaining. This design offers lock-free index operations and deletes that free slots instantly, (2) completes most requests with a single memory access, (3) utilizes software prefetching to hide memory latencies, and (4) employs a novel non-blocking and parallel resizing. In a commodity server and a memory-resident workload, DLHT surpasses 1.6B requests per second and provides 3.5x (12x) the throughput of the state-of-the-art closed-addressing (open-addressing) resizable hashtable on Gets (Deletes).
What is an RPA CoE? Session 2 – CoE RolesDianaGray10
In this session, we will review the players involved in the CoE and how each role impacts opportunities.
Topics covered:
• What roles are essential?
• What place in the automation journey does each role play?
Speaker:
Chris Bolin, Senior Intelligent Automation Architect Anika Systems
The Microsoft 365 Migration Tutorial For Beginner.pptxoperationspcvita
This presentation will help you understand the power of Microsoft 365. However, we have mentioned every productivity app included in Office 365. Additionally, we have suggested the migration situation related to Office 365 and how we can help you.
You can also read: https://www.systoolsgroup.com/updates/office-365-tenant-to-tenant-migration-step-by-step-complete-guide/
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
An English 🇬🇧 translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech 🇨🇿 version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
Freshworks Rethinks NoSQL for Rapid Scaling & Cost-EfficiencyScyllaDB
Freshworks creates AI-boosted business software that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively. Managing data across multiple RDBMS and NoSQL databases was already a challenge at their current scale. To prepare for 10X growth, they knew it was time to rethink their database strategy. Learn how they architected a solution that would simplify scaling while keeping costs under control.
LF Energy Webinar: Carbon Data Specifications: Mechanisms to Improve Data Acc...DanBrown980551
This LF Energy webinar took place June 20, 2024. It featured:
-Alex Thornton, LF Energy
-Hallie Cramer, Google
-Daniel Roesler, UtilityAPI
-Henry Richardson, WattTime
In response to the urgency and scale required to effectively address climate change, open source solutions offer significant potential for driving innovation and progress. Currently, there is a growing demand for standardization and interoperability in energy data and modeling. Open source standards and specifications within the energy sector can also alleviate challenges associated with data fragmentation, transparency, and accessibility. At the same time, it is crucial to consider privacy and security concerns throughout the development of open source platforms.
This webinar will delve into the motivations behind establishing LF Energy’s Carbon Data Specification Consortium. It will provide an overview of the draft specifications and the ongoing progress made by the respective working groups.
Three primary specifications will be discussed:
-Discovery and client registration, emphasizing transparent processes and secure and private access
-Customer data, centering around customer tariffs, bills, energy usage, and full consumption disclosure
-Power systems data, focusing on grid data, inclusive of transmission and distribution networks, generation, intergrid power flows, and market settlement data
2. Regular Paper
A new dawn for industrial photosynthesis
Dan E. Robertson1 , Stuart A. Jacobson2 , Frederick Morgan2 , David Berry3 ,
George M. Church4 and Noubar B. Afeyan3
(1) Biological Sciences, Joule Unlimited, 83 Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
(2) Engineering, Joule Unlimited, 83 Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
(3) Flagship VentureLabs, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
(4) Department of Genetics, Harvard University, School of Medicine, 77 Ave Louis Pasteur, NRB 238,
Boston, MA 02115, USA
Dan E. Robertson (Corresponding author)
Email: drobertson@jouleunlimited.com
Stuart A. Jacobson
Email: sjacobson@jouleunlimited.com
Frederick Morgan
Email: fmorgan@jouleunlimited.com
David Berry
Email: dberry@flagshipventures.com
George M. Church
Email: gmc@harvard.edu
Noubar B. Afeyan
Email: nafeyan@flagshipventures.com
Received: 5 October 2010 Accepted: 26 January 2011 Published online: 13 February 2011
Abstract
Several emerging technologies are aiming to meet renewable fuel standards, mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions, and provide viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Direct conversion of solar energy into
fungible liquid fuel is a particularly attractive option, though conversion of that energy on an
industrial scale depends on the efficiency of its capture and conversion. Large-scale programs have
been undertaken in the recent past that used solar energy to grow innately oil-producing algae for
biomass processing to biodiesel fuel. These efforts were ultimately deemed to be uneconomical
because the costs of culturing, harvesting, and processing of algal biomass were not balanced by the
process efficiencies for solar photon capture and conversion. This analysis addresses solar capture
and conversion efficiencies and introduces a unique systems approach, enabled by advances in
strain engineering, photobioreactor design, and a process that contradicts prejudicial opinions about
the viability of industrial photosynthesis. We calculate efficiencies for this direct, continuous solar
process based on common boundary conditions, empirical measurements and validated assumptions
wherein genetically engineered cyanobacteria convert industrially sourced, high-concentration
CO2 into secreted, fungible hydrocarbon products in a continuous process. These innovations are
projected to operate at areal productivities far exceeding those based on accumulation and refining
of plant or algal biomass or on prior assumptions of photosynthetic productivity. This concept,
currently enabled for production of ethanol and alkane diesel fuel molecules, and operating at pilot
scale, establishes a new paradigm for high productivity manufacturing of nonfossil-derived fuels
and chemicals.
3. Keywords Cyanobacteria – Metabolic engineering – Hydrocarbon – Alkane – Diesel – Renewable
fuel – Algae – Biomass – Biodiesel
Introduction
The capture of solar energy to power industrial processes has been an inviting prospect for decades.
The energy density of solar radiation and its potential as a source for production of fuels, if
efficiently captured and converted, could support the goals of national energy independence.
Analyses of photosynthetic conversion have been driven by this promise (Goldman 1978; Pirt 1983;
Bolton and Hall 1991; Zhu et al. 2008, 2010). The deployment of solar-based industries for fuels
has, however, been limited by the lack of efficient cost-effective technologies. Projects funded
between 1976 and 1996 under the US Department of Energy (DOE) aquatic species program
explored phototrophic organisms and process technologies for the production of algal oils and their
refinement into biodiesel. The results of these efforts were summarized in a report that delineated
the technological barriers to industrial development (Sheehan et al. 1998).
The traditional photosynthetic fuels process is one wherein triglyceride-producing algae are grown
under illumination and stressed to induce the diversion of a fraction of carbon to oil production. The
algal biomass is harvested, dewatered and lysed, and processed to yield a product that is chemically
refined to an acyl ester biodiesel product. Many companies have been founded since the DOE final
report that strive to make incremental improvements in this process to create viable solar energy-to-
fuel technologies. However, many of the fundamental barriers to industrial photosynthetic
efficiency remain and threaten to constrain this approach to one wherein only associated coproduct
generation can salvage the process economics (Wijffels and Barbosa 2010).
Here, we reassess industrial photosynthesis in light of the development of powerful tools for
systems biology, metabolic engineering, reactor and process design that have enabled a direct-to-
product, continuous photosynthetic process (direct process). Many of these innovations were
presaged by DOE as well as academic and industrial sources (Gordon and Polle 2007; Rosenberg et
al. 2008) who suggested that these types of technological advances could enable the success of
industrial photosynthesis (see Table 1 for a list of innovations and advances inherent in the direct
process).
Table 1 Technological innovations leading to high-energy capture and conversion characteristics of a direct,
continuous process for photosynthetic fuel production
Process innovation System design
• Metabolic engineering for recombinant pathway to
directly synthesize final product
Maximize energy capture and conversion • Gene regulation control to optimize carbon partitioning
by process organism to product
• Metabolic switching to control carbon flux during
growth and production phases
• Cyanobacterial system to obviate mitochondrial
metabolism
Minimize peripheral metabolism
• Operation at high (>1%) CO2 to minimize
photorespiration
4. Process innovation System design
• Decoupling of biomass formation from product
synthesis
Maximize yield and productivity • Engineering continuous secretion of product
• Optimization of process cycle time via continuous
production
Photobioreactor that
• minimizes solar reflection
Enable economic, efficient reactor and
process • optimizes photon capture and gas mass transfer at high
culture density
• optimizes thermal control
The direct process uses a cyanobacterial platform organism engineered to produce a diesel-like
alkane mixture, to maximally divert fixed CO2 to the engineered pathway, and to secrete the alkane
product under conditions of limited growth but continuous production. This creates a process
analogous to those of engineered fermentative systems that use heterotrophic organisms, e.g.,
yeast, E coli, etc., whose phases of growth and production are separated and whose carbon
partitioning is controlled to achieve very high maximal productivities (for example, see Ohta et
al. 1991; Stephanopoulos et al. 1998). Such processes, where cells partition carbon and free energy
almost exclusively to produce and secrete a desired product while minimizing energy conversion
losses due to growth-associated metabolism, have much longer process cycle times and higher
system productivities than those requiring organism growth and downstream biomass harvesting
and processing.
For purposes of energy conversion analysis, we compare the direct process to a conventional algal
pond biomass-based process producing biodiesel esters. A simple comparative illustration of the
algal biomass process and the direct photosynthetic concept is shown in Fig. 1. Many analyses have
been performed for the algal process (Benemann and Oswald 1994; Chisti 2007; Gordon and
Polle 2007; Dismukes et al. 2008; Rosenberg et al. 2008; Schenk et al. 2008; Angermayr et
al. 2009; Stephens et al. 2010; Weyer et al. 2009; Wijffels and Barbosa 2010; Zemke et al. 2010;
Zijffers et al. 2010) and for photosynthetic efficiency associated with production of plant biomass
(Zhu et al. 2008, 2010) and we have incorporated the relevant aspects of these published reports to
bound the current analysis. Our analysis of the algal process closely follows the assumptions of
Weyer et al. (2009) with the exception that we use the more common open-pond scenario. Note that
we also make a clear distinction between biodiesel esters derived from algal biomass and fungible
alkane diesel synthesized directly.
5. Fig. 1 Schematic comparison between algal biomass and direct photosynthetic processes. The direct
process, developed by Joule and called Helioculture™, combines an engineered cyanobacterial organism
supplemented with a product pathway and secretion system to produce and secrete a fungible alkane diesel
product continuously in a SolarConverter™ designed to efficiently and economically collect and convert
photonic energy. The process is closed and uses industrial waste CO2 at concentrations 50–100× higher
than atmospheric. The organism is further engineered to provide a switchable control between carbon
partitioning for biomass or product. The algal process is based on growth of an oil-producing culture in an
industrial pond on atmospheric CO2, biomass harvesting, oil extraction, and chemical esterification to
produce a biodiesel ester
Photosynthetic efficiency
The cumulative energy input and the derived energy output are critical factors in comparing
processes for fuel production. In discussing energy input, photosynthesis has an additional
consideration. Unlike most chemical processes that scale three-dimensionally with volume,
photosynthetic processes scale with the two-dimensional area of solar capture. Light energy scales
with the number of photons striking an area per unit time, e.g., E/m2/s, where E (Einstein) is equal
to one mole of photons. In a photosynthetic industrial process, areal productivity is most sensitive to
the amount of light energy captured over the area of insolation and its conversion to product.
Typically, either open algal ponds or closed photobioreactors have been used. For efficient areal
capture, a reactor design is required that optimizes solar insolation, culture density, gas mass
transfer, mixing, and thermal management.
Different fields of photonic research use different boundary conditions when discussing cumulative
energy demand and it is important to distinguish them: specifically, efficiencies may be stated based
either on (1) total solar radiation directed to the earth, (2) total radiation penetrating the atmosphere
and striking the earth, or (3) total useful radiation that drives a process or phenomenon, e.g.,
6. weather, solar PV generation, photosynthesis, etc. Misuse of percentages valid for one process leads
to misconceptions of energy yields for another, so it is important to be specific when comparing
sources and sinks for photons.
Each year, approximately 43,000 megajoules (MJ) of solar energy reach each square meter of space
facing the sun just outside the earth’s atmosphere (Frölich and Lean 1998). The amount of solar
energy striking any point on the earth’s surface is considerably less than this value due to several
factors, including the earth’s rotation, the angle of the ground relative to the incoming radiation, and
attenuation through the atmosphere by absorption and scattering. The solar radiation reaching the
earth’s surface in the continental USA is approximately 11–18% of the total extraterrestrial value,
depending on location.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has conducted long-term measurements of
daily insolation rates at various locales in the United States (Marion and Wilcox 1994; Wilcox et
al. 2007). Rates for a few locations are shown in Table 2. For example, measurements at Phoenix,
AZ, between 1992 and 2003 yield an average annual insolation rate of 7,300 MJ/m2/year striking a
flat horizontal stationary surface. Using these empirical results precludes the need to make
assumptions about atmospheric attenuation of solar energy.
Table 2 Average annual total and photosynthetically active (PAR) ground horizontal radiation (PAR) at
various US locales
Historical average total ground radiation Historical average PAR
Locale
MJ/m2/year MJ/m2/year
El Paso, TX 7460 3460
Phoenix, AZ 7300 3400
Las Vegas, NV 7190 3320
Lanai, HI 7120 3530
Albuquerque,
6990 3240
NM
Leander, TX 6050 3000
Cambridge, MA 4800 2380
PAR is computed using NREL models based on the ratio of the measured historical average total radiation
reaching the ground (Gueymard 2005; Bird and Riordan 1984)
Photosynthetic systems utilize radiation of the visible portion of the solar spectrum, i.e., in the
wavelength range from 400 to 700 nm. Other photosynthetic systems can function at longer
wavelengths but we confine this analysis to the range utilized by algae and cyanobacteria.
Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the integrated total photonic energy available for
photosynthesis, is approximately 39% of the total solar energy directed earthwards. However,
moisture in the atmosphere preferentially absorbs the infrared portion of the spectrum. As a result,
the fraction of PAR in ground-incident radiation available for photosynthesis is increased to a value
of about 48% of the total. Higher energy ultraviolet photons and lower energy infrared photons sum
to the remaining 52%. Average PAR values for any location, based on historical average solar
insolation rates, can be calculated using NREL models (Gueymard 2005; Bird and Riordan 1984).
Annual PAR insolation at Phoenix is ~3,400 MJ/m2/year (Table 2).
In photosynthesis, a number of molecules have been enlisted as sources of reducing power to be
converted by photonic energy. During many millions of years, plants, algae, and cyanobacteria have
7. evolved to oxidize water and generate oxygen. Oxygenic photosynthesis follows the well-
established Z-scheme mechanism (Blankenship 2002) wherein photonic energy converts NADP+ to
the reductant NADPH and ADP to ATP. These molecules are generated stoichiometrically with
photons and are the chemical currencies used to fix CO2 and drive cell metabolism. Fixation of one
CO2 requires two NADPH and three ATP.
The requirement for CO2 fixation under atmospheric conditions (where CO2 concentration is
~0.04%) has been observed to be between 9 and 10 photons/CO2 (Blankenship 2002). The extra
photon requirement beyond eight is accounted for by the efficiency loss due to the process of
photorespiration. Because of the low-O2/CO2 selectivity of the first enzyme step of carbon fixation,
at the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, oxygenation competes with carboxylation and diverts
some carbon to glycolate in systems operating under atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Some
phototrophs, particularly C-4 plants and the cyanobacteria, have evolved sophisticated CO2 capture
mechanisms to maintain high-CO2 concentrations in physical contact with the carbon-fixing
machinery. In photosynthetic processes utilizing CO2 at 50–100 times atmospheric concentrations,
it is reasonable to minimize the contribution of photorespiration and to assume
photon/CO2 stoichiometries of eight (see Furbank and Hatch 1987; Zhu et al. 2008).
A photon/product ratio can be calculated for any metabolic intermediate or synthetic product from
either a natural or engineered recombinantly expressed pathway. For example, though fixation of a
mole of CO2 into biomass with empirical formula CH2O requires eight photons, production of other
metabolic intermediates requiring ATP and/or NADPH may require more photons per mole
CO2 fixed.
Processes relying on the refining of biomass must account for product yields in efficiency
calculations. Algal processes for fuel production take advantage of intrinsically high triglyceride oil
production, up to 30–50% dry cell weight (Zemke et al. 2010). Batch cultivation and processing of
algae, either in open ponds or in closed photobioreactors, require subsequent harvesting,
dewatering, oil processing, and transesterification to produce a biodiesel fuel product, e.g., a fatty
acyl ester. The overall productivity of this process is affected by the amount of carbon fixed to
triglyceride per unit time and the process efficiency over a given area. This analysis uses the higher
yield value for algae.
Cyanobacteria, once classified as blue-green algae, are now taxonomically categorized as water-
splitting bacteria. They differ from algae in that they lack a defined nucleus and other genome-
containing organelle compartments, e.g., mitochondria and chloroplasts, and have bacterial-style
inner and outer membranes. Some cyanobacterial genera are robust, unicellular, and readily
transformable, and therefore amenable to genetic engineering and industrialization. In this analysis,
the engineered cyanobacterial system is one engineered with a pathway for linear saturated alkane
synthesis (Reppas and Ridley 2010) and an alkane secretion module, and with a mechanism to
control carbon partitioning to either cell growth or alkane production.
Comparison of efficiencies for an algal pond
biomass-to-biodiesel and a cyanobacterial direct-to-
fungible diesel process
8. For comparison, we present two process scenarios and a theoretical maximum and compute
practical maximum efficiencies. To use the empirically determined surface insolation rates of
NREL, each scenario assumes a common location, e.g., Phoenix, AZ, and the energy input begins
with the boundary of photons incident on a horizontal surface at that locale, e.g., 7,300 MJ/m2/year.
We compare the accumulation of energy losses at each process step and the resultant input for
conversion by the organism. The factors that lead to photon loss are based on empirical
measurements and on literature reports (see particularly Weyer et al. 2009; Zhu et al. 2008; also
Benemann and Oswald 1994; Chisti 2007; Gordon and Polle 2007; Dismukes et al. 2008;
Rosenberg et al. 2008; Schenk et al. 2008; Angermayr et al. 2009; Stephens et al. 2010; Wijffels
and Barbosa 2010; Zemke et al. 2010; Zijffers et al.2010), and are described in photon utilization
assumptions (below). Note that some loss categories are defined differently by different authors but
we have attempted to account for all basic assumptions in our comparative analysis.
The direct scenario assumes conversion of fixed CO2 directly to a hydrocarbon, while minimizing
production of biomass, and further involves secretion and continuous capture of the hydrocarbon
product from the culture medium during a defined process interval. This scenario is designed for
efficient capture and conversion of solar radiation in a densely arrayed closed reactor format. The
theoretical maximum scenario does not include the losses associated with culture growth, surface
reflection, photon utilization, photorespiration, mitochondrial respiration, process cycling, and
nonfuel production, (Table 3).
Table 3 Individual contributions to photon energy losses in algal open pond and direct process scenarios
(see photon utilization assumptions for a description). Cumulative contributions are illustrated in Fig. 2
Algal open Direct, continuous Direct theoretical
Energy loss factor
pond (%) (%) maximum (%)
Unusable radiation (non-PAR
51.3 51.3 51.3
fraction)
Culture growth loss 20 5.4 0
Reactor surface reflection loss 2 15 0
Culture reflection loss 10 10 10
Photon utilization loss 15 15 0
Photosynthetic metabolic loss 70.2 74.8 70.9
Cellular maintenance loss 5 5 5
Mitochondrial respiration loss 30 0 0
Photorespiration loss 49 0 0
Nonfuel production loss 50 0 0
Using photon utilization assumptions, we can illustrate the accumulating energy losses and the
ultimate efficiencies for each of the scenarios. The individual losses, each accounting for a fraction
of energy diverted away from conversion to the desired product, are summarized in Table 3.
Figure 2 shows the stack-up of losses affecting the conversion efficiencies. The large arrows shown
in the bottom of the plot indicate the overall conversion efficiency, i.e., the fraction of photons
captured and converted to product. Because the losses combine multiplicatively, showing the loss
axis in logarithmic terms allows a proper relative comparison. As shown in Fig. 2, various
constraints result in nearly a 40% reduction in practical maximum conversion efficiency for the
direct process relative to the theoretical maximum for this process. Even so, the conversion
efficiency for the direct process is about seven times larger than that for an algal open pond. Note
that these calculations do not account for downstream-processing efficiency. Also note that the
9. results presented in Fig. 2 show the potential for converting photons to product, but do not indicate
the cost for building and operating facilities for implementing these processes.
Fig. 2 Sum of individual contributions and accumulated photon losses for two fuel processes and a
theoretical maximum for energy conversion. The losses are represented on a logarithmic scale and
accumulated serially for the processes beginning with the percent of PAR in empirically measured solar
ground insolation. Total practical conversion efficiency after accounting for losses is indicated by the green
arrows
Figure 3 shows the relationship between the calculated energy conversions expressed for any liquid
fuel in per barrel energy equivalents (bble). By using the photosynthetic efficiency calculated
above, the extrapolated metric of barrel energy equivalents (bble is equal to 6.1 × 109 joule) and any
product density expressed in kg/m3 and energy content, e.g., heating value in MJ/kg, the output of
this analysis can be converted to areal productivity for any molecule produced from either an
endogenous or an engineered pathway. For example, the direct process, operating at the calculated
7.2% efficiency would yield 350 bble/acre/year. This equates to 15,000 gal alkane/acre/year where
a C17 alkane has a heating value of 47.2 MJ/kg and density of 777 kg/m3. Given the flexibility of
genome engineering to construct production organisms that make and secrete various fuel products,
a similar calculation can be applied for any product synthesized via a recombinant enzymatic
pathway and a productivity value extrapolated. By comparison on an energy basis, the practical
efficiency of the algal biomass process would equal about 3,500 gal/acre/year of the target
triglyceride (71 bble; heating value 41 MJ/kg; density 890 kg/m3). Note that 1 gal/acre/year is
equivalent to 9.4 l/hectare/year.
10. Fig. 3 Relationship between practical photon capture efficiency and productivity calculated on a barrel
equivalent energy basis
The areal productivity estimate for the direct process surpasses the best estimates for fuel
productivity potential by any biomass-derived fuel process, e.g., for grain or cellulosic ethanol, for
algal or vegetable oils for biodiesel, or biomass gasification and Fischer–Tropsch reforming for
hydrocarbons. The photon energy densities and process productivities, plus the advantage of no
arable land or freshwater displacement, create a scenario in which a minimal dedication of marginal
land can serve to meet US renewable fuel standards.
Comparisons are often made between the energy efficiencies of photosynthesis and those for solar
electricity generation. It is important to make these comparisons in the proper context. Solar thermal
or photovoltaic systems generate power requiring economical and efficient storage and transmission
into the electrical grid, whereas the systems described here generate easily stored energy in liquid
form. Moreover, values quoted for solar power systems are peak efficiencies that fall off
precipitously under even momentary shading (Curtright and Apt 2008). Solar electricity efficiencies
are also compounded by battery efficiencies and impedance losses that introduce system-specific
variability. Manufacturing fuels to direct them into an existing refining, distribution, and
transportation infrastructure would be more fairly compared to other existing and developing
technologies for energy conversion to reasonably storable forms and not to electricity.
The aquatic species program report of 1998 (Sheehan et al. 1998) and the recently published
National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap (2009) each conclude that photosynthesis could
support viable fuel processes given advances in organism and process productivities. Organism
11. engineering, direct production, product secretion, and process optimization are areas for
improvement to achieve viability. The direct photosynthetic platform is an alternative approach that
addresses many of these ideas and offers efficiencies nearest to a thermodynamic maximum with
more advantageous process economics.
Further application of systems and synthetic biology approaches could extend the range of
efficiency for photosynthetic processes. For example, some photosynthetic microorganisms,
particularly the nonoxygenic bacteria, have light capture systems allowing them to extend the PAR
range into the near infrared (up to ~1,100 nm; Kiang et al. 2007). Incorporating these alternate
photon-capturing and reaction center complexes into oxygenic production organisms to supplement
endogenous systems and broaden the spectrum of light harvesting could further optimize efficiency
relative to PAR. Other innovations that reduce culture reflection, enhance photon capture, and
broaden temperature optima can also be envisioned using advanced organism-engineering tools.
Because policy, grant funding, and private investment in transformative industrial processes are
founded on their economics, any statements of efficiencies without the benefit of substantive
analysis can be prejudicial to the development and implementation of technologies that may, in fact,
be revolutionary. At this time of global need for sustainable fuels, the deployment of game-
changing technologies is critical to economies and environments on a global scale. It is clear from
this and other recent analyses focused on life cycles and energy balances (Stephens et al. 2010) that
a very compelling case can be made for photosynthesis as a platform technology for renewable
production of fuels. More specifically, an engineered cyanobacterial organism for direct continuous
conversion of CO2 into infrastructure-compatible, secreted fuel molecules surpasses the
productivities of alternatives that rely on the growth of biomass for downstream conversion into
product.
Photon utilization assumptions
The assumptions inherent in a calculation of overall efficiency of a photosynthetic process are based
on areal insolation, capture, and conversion, and are analyzed relative to a sequentially
accumulating loss of photons that are not gainfully utilized for the production of product. When
accounting for the ultimate contingent of photons that are converted, the loss at each process step is
a percentage fraction of the total available from the previous step. The descriptions below follow
the sequence of process conversion steps and reflect the accumulating losses and resultant
efficiencies illustrated in Fig. 2. Values described below are summarized in Table 3.
PAR radiation fraction
The analysis assumes that only the solar radiation reaching the ground is available for conversion
and the cumulative loss is computed with respect to this boundary value. Although the average total
solar radiation reaching the ground varies throughout the world, we assume that the relative
efficiency of each subsequent step in the conversion process is location-independent to a first-order
approximation. The energy fraction of solar radiation reaching the ground that lies in the PAR range
does vary with location and time of day. Results obtained from NREL models (Gueymard 2005;
Bird and Riordan 1984) indicate that the PAR radiation fraction ranges from about 47–50% in the
southwest USA. For the calculations performed in this article, we use a value of 48.7% for PAR
radiation fraction to remain consistent with Zhu et al. (2008), resulting in a loss of 51.3%.
12. Culture growth
In the direct process, once reactors are inoculated, cells must be grown up to high density before the
production phase. Thereafter, the process is continuous for an extended period. Based on pilot
experience, we assume an 8-week process time, 3 days of growth at doubling times ~3 h followed
by 53 days of production with no biomass accumulation, before the reactors must be emptied and
reinoculated. Direct production of a fungible product minimizes downstream processing. This
results in a reactor availability loss of about 5%.
In the case of an algal biomass process, energy and carbon are dedicated to batch growth and stress-
induced triglyceride accumulation, followed by harvesting and downstream processing. The DOE
Algal Biomass report process summary indicates that the algal growth phase is followed by an
equal triglyceride accumulation phase, which would indicate a cycling efficiency loss of 50%.
Coupled growth and triglyceride process would result in an approximate 20% loss (see Fig. 3;
Sheehan et al. 1998) which we take here.
Reactor surface reflection
Any process using an enclosed reactor must account for reflective and refractive losses as light
passes through the outward facing surface. A 15% loss is estimated for the direct process to account
for light reflected away from the reactor. The reactor is assumed to have two layers of plastic
containing the organisms (an outer protective layer and an inner container), resulting in three
air/plastic interfaces that light must pass through before reaching the culture. Each of these
interfaces will result in about a 5% reflective Fresnel loss, assuming no antireflective coating is
used. For the algal open pond, a single air/water interface results in about a 2% reflective Fresnel
loss.
Culture reflection
According to Zhu et al. (2008), about 10% of the incoming PAR radiation is reflected away by a
plant or culture, with most of this reflection occurring at the green wavelengths. This loss is applied
to all cases, including the theoretical maximum.
Photon utilization
Not all photons that enter a reactor are available for conversion. For instance, it may be too costly to
maintain the reactor in a condition in which it can convert every photon, such as early in the
morning and late in the day when solar radiation is very diffuse. Likewise, depending on how the
reactor temperature is maintained, the organisms may not be at optimal production temperature
early in the morning. In addition, at very high intensity levels, the organisms may not be able to
convert all of the photons. Based on models that integrate solar and meteorological data with a
thermal and production model, we estimate that about 15% of the incoming photons will not be
available for conversion for the direct case. We assign a comparable loss to the algal open pond.
Photosynthetic loss
The main fractional loss in photosynthetic conversion results from energy-driven metabolism.
Because the photosynthetic process is ultimately exothermic, the available energy contained in the
13. product formed by metabolism is a fraction of that contained in the incoming photons. The
remaining energy is dissipated as heat into the culture. For the production of alkane, we calculated
that ~12 photons are required to reduce each molecule of CO2. Assuming an average PAR photon
energy of 226 kJ/mol and a heating value of 47.2 MJ/kg for alkane, the photosynthetic conversion
efficiency is about 25% (equivalent to a loss of 74.8%). For the simpler triglyceride, we assume
only eight photons are required to reduce each molecule of CO2, but that the product consists of half
triglyceride (heating value 37 kJ/kg) and half simple biomass (heating value 15.6 kJ/kg),
resulting in a photosynthetic conversion efficiency of about 29.8%. This value for algal open ponds
is considered to be very conservative, with the actual value likely a few percent lower. Finally, for
the theoretical maximum, we use the value computed in Zhu et al. (2008) for a maximum
photosynthetic efficiency of 29.1% (obtained by combining the loss for photochemical inefficiency
and carbohydrate synthesis).
Cellular maintenance
Maintenance energy is a variable that may affect photoefficiency by drawing away energetic
currencies of ATP and NADPH for cell division, repair, and other functions not directly associated
with product formation. The maintenance energy in any given process situation depends on rates of
metabolism, cell division, etc., as shown in differences in measured values in dividing versus
resting cells (Pirt 1965; Pirt 1975). A batch bioprocess, therefore, wherein cell division and product
formation are proceeding simultaneously versus a continuous process where growth is minimized
and carbon is partitioned to a secreted product may differ considerably in maintenance energy.
However, because the concept and measurement are controversial, we have attributed a 5% loss to
the analyses of all three scenarios.
Mitochondrial respiration
Under illumination, eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms, e.g., plants and algae, lose efficiency
because of respiratory metabolism in the mitochondria. Because cyanobacteria have no subcellular
organelles and the engineered organisms are partitioning nearly all fixed carbon to product, we have
assumed negligible respiration loss in the direct process and have also zeroed out this loss in the
theoretical practical maximum scenario. The algal open-pond analysis includes a 30% loss for
mitochondrial respiration. This value is based on the plant value used by Zhu et al. (2008).
Photorespiration
According to Zhu et al. (2008), processes at atmospheric CO2 concentrations, such as an open algal
pond, will have a substantial loss ( 49%) due to photorespiration. This loss is minimized at high-
CO2 levels (>1%) maintained in the enclosed direct process (see text for explanation).
Biomass versus fuel production
In the direct process, most fixed-carbon output is in the form of a chemical product from a cloned
heterologous pathway. For the algal process, we assume a generous value for oil yield of 50% by
weight and thus apply a 50% loss to productivity.
The losses discussed above are summarized in Table 3. We define conversion factor as (1 – loss
factor) for each of the above losses. For instance, the conversion factor for cellular maintenance
14. (loss = 5%) is 95%. Total conversion efficiency, as shown in Fig. 2, is computed by taking the
product of each of the conversion factors computed from the values in Table 3.
Acknowledgments The authors declare a competing interest via their association with Joule
Unlimited.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial
License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
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