Termite Guts Could Boost (cellulosic) Ethanol Efficiency

[JohnWxy]

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=biofuels&id=19745
A massive genomic study of the microbes living within the termite gut has identified close to 1,000 possible enzymes that break down wood. The plethora of cellulose-digesting proteins could shed light on the insects' renowned wood-eating capacity and suggest cheaper, more efficient methods for generating cellulosic ethanol.

"The hard part is obtaining the metabolic intermediates from things like wood, but that's the problem the termites have solved," says Frances Arnold, a scientist at Caltech in Pasadena who was not involved in the research. "This paper provides an explosion of information about the genes involved in wood degradation in the termite."
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Steven Chu, nobel laureatte in Physics is also working on this as head of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

[Zachstar]

1. They are making some breakthroughs in cellulosic Ethanol

I hope they hurry tho because we are going to need some massive production within half a decade or so because the oil cartels are only going to be shaken for a few years after a reserve dump.

[Turbineguy]

2. Another

food staple.... converted to fuel cars...

[mattvermont]

3. Food staple

The termites or the wood? I personally do not eat either

[Turbineguy]

4. I don't know

Probably too much TV watching....

[eppur_se_muova]

12. More like sawdust and wood chips ... scrap paper ... cotton rags ...

corn stover (dried stalks), silk, husk, etc. (any part of the plant you can't eat) ... lawn clippings, Autumn leaves ... all stuff that's burned or dumped in landfills now, but could be digested by cellulose-eating bugs. FWIW, termites dine just fine on old newspapers. Imagine if even the crumbly, overprocessed, short-fiber cellulose from cheap cardboard and worst-grade paper could be converted to fuel this way -- one more reuse before conversion back to the CO2 from whence it came.

[losthills]

5. Yeah, let's pump the rainforests into our gas tanks!

Fookin' brilliant....

[Zachstar]

6. Who cares about the rainforest? There is plenty of crap wood that can be used right here in the US

Sawdust, wood chips, forest thinning to resist fire.. Etc...

Besides the gold is crops such as switchgrass being used to quickly and cheaply grow ethanol crops. Using wood is just a bonus in the near term.

[losthills]

7. I'm still waitin' on all that fusion power....

[Zachstar]

8. And I am still waiting on you to get out of your fantasy land.

But I guess the nuclear rays have not melted the bunnies in it yet?

Crapping about my sig every time you lose an argument gets you nowhere. It got you nowhere with NNadir and it will not get you anywhere with me.

[losthills]

9. "Fusion is the future!"

[Zachstar]

10. If you are going to post an insult atleast do it right it is "Fusion... The future!"

Multiple decades of fusion research has lead to major breakthroughs (Considering fusion is sort of difficult) and modern projects that can lead to fusion power within the next 2-3 decades.

Fusion is proven (The fucking sun) Real and achievable if you don't have idiots like Raygun and Bush/Clinton failing to provide good funding for research. (You know the reason that Bussard needed to go with the US NAVY for his fusion research? Because the limited funding made only ITER funding feasible)

Fusion is coming if it be electrostatic (EMC2) or FocusFusion or ITER (International) it will be here.

However that does not mean we act like flippin idiots in the meantime! We do not have the grid or the ability to convert the car fleet to Electric overnight. So you have to continue to either rely on Middle Eastern Oil (And likely ANWR at this rate) Or put a strong effort into Biofuels until electric cars can get serious.

Ya instead of pumping extra doses of old CO2 into the envrionment I would rather get it for an atleast party closed cycle source. Switchgrass is a good way to get more of our supply of biofuels until electric car technology advances to the point (Along with the grid) to replace the combustion engine is a massive way.

TIP: Li-Ion batteries are not the solution to the energy storage issue.

[kristopher]

13. Why not?

"TIP: Li-Ion batteries are not the solution to the energy storage issue."


There is a lot of evidence you are incorrect.

[losthills]

15. "Fusion.....It's sorta difficult!"

[Dead_Parrot]

17. "Future" ?

:shrug:

[izquierdista]

11. "And it always will be!"

[DCKit]

14. "The Future"?

Isn't the SUN, a Nnew-cue-lur fusion reactor, powering (nearly) everything NOW?

Oh, THAT's right - it's not DEPENDABLE, so we need to build our own. Any day now.

Edit to add:

Oh, and the bacteria from cows (and other ruminants) stomachs as well as the digestive systems of crickets, roaches, silverfish and all the other critters that'll eat your books, deck or lawn chairs when you're not looking.

[rasputin1952]

16. Fluidized Bed Reactors will be norm in the future. While very

expensive now, they will be the state of the art technology in the near future.

The process involves superheated sand that vaporizes the cellulosic subsatnce, then converts the gases into ETOH. Several steps in the current process are bypassed. This is an extremely descripition of what happens, but it does work, and it works pretty well.

As of today, there is only one FBR currebtly working in the US, but it can burn virtually anything carbon based, grass clippings, corn, soy, husks, leaves, wood...whatever.

[JohnWxy]

18. Corn Plus has been successfully combusting its solubles—the syrup normally added to distillers dried

http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=2070

[rasputin1952]

19. I am in a program at my local CC that is based on ETOH, and we

have known about FRB's for quite sometime. There are new technologies coming on line all of the time, and a combination of renewables and conservation will go a very long way in keeping us mobile and energy independent. One big part of the problem is the incredible sluggishness of heavy industries in this country.

Once again, those that manufacture not only the vehicles that get us around, but also the machines that feed the nation are lagging far behind, and this may well be th death knell for Big Auto in the US.