Energy Biosciences Institute Linking Biotechnology and Energy. March 25, 2010 Paul Willems, TVP Energy Biosciences EBI Associate Director

Transcription

1 Energy Biosciences Institute Linking Biotechnology and Energy March 25, 2010 Paul Willems, TVP Energy Biosciences EBI Associate Director

2 EBI Partners This Extraordinary partnership builds upon and extends strengths in the area of alternative biofuels. 2

3 EBI design factors A mission oriented multidisciplinary research institution Single organization doing open and proprietary work Open work in Fundamental Energy Biosciences Co-locate some BP researchers A substantial and long-term commitment to engage quality researchers ($500m over 10 years) Host at a world-class institution to maximize academic presence and interdisciplinary interaction. 3

4 Technical reach of the EBI Breeding Propagation Pretreatment Fossil fuel bioprocessing Pest & Pathogen Agronomy Ionic liquids Enzymes Metabolic Engineering Harvest Transport Storage Feedstock supply Bioprospecting Catalysis Imaging Precursors Systems Biology Synthetic Genomics Fuels Sustainability Environmental impact Algae Analytical chemistry Process engineering Microbiology Fermentation Catalysis Microbially Enhanced Oil recovery Socioeconomics, law & policy 4

5 Summary of LC research priorities Develop energy crops and associated agronomic practices Identify or create more active catalysts for conversion of biomass to sugars and sugars to fuels Develop improved industrial microorganisms Develop new types of microorganisms that produce and secrete hydrophobic compounds Understand the social, economic, and environmental implications 5

6 Nitrogen use efficiency SPRING/ SUMMER FALL WINTER Mineral nutrients Translocation from rhizomes to growing shoot Mineral nutrients Translocation to rhizome as shoot senesces Lignocellulose dry shoots harvested, nutrients stay in rhizomes Courtesy of Steve Long et al 6

7 Miscanthus giganteus Yield of 26.5 tons/acre observed by Long & colleagues in Illinois, without irrigation Courtesy of Steve Long et al 7

8 Crop yields have been strongly increased but biomass yields have not Average European forest yield Average Indiana corn yield Source: European Forest Institute ( Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service 8

9 The fungibility of carbon Primary Energy Conversion Technology Products Natural Gas Coal Reforming Gasification Syngas Conversion -FT - Oxygenates - Chemicals Fuels Chemicals Power Generation Biomass Enzymatic/Biological Conversion Electricity Extra Heavy Oil Refining Processes -coking - hydro-treating - novel thermal processes CO 2 Capture CO 2 for EOR/Storage 9

10 Key Challenges LC conversion technology Overcoming the recalcitrans of LC biomass Efficiently utilizing all sugars Producing better fuel molecules beyond ethanol Creating a highly productive, stable host organism 10

11 Lignin occludes polysaccharides Cellulose Lignin Hemicellulose 11

12 Possible routes to improved catalysts Explore the enzyme systems used by termites for digesting lignocellulosic material Same for ruminants Compost heaps and forest floors are poorly explored In vitro protein engineering of promising enzymes Develop synthetic organic catalysts (for polysaccharides and lignin) 12

13 Routes to fermentation of all sugars are known cellulose Hemi cellulose Lignin Typical grass composition Jeffries & Shi Adv Bioch Eng 65,118 13

14 Routes to potential fuels Fortman et al, Trends Biotechnology 26,375 14

15 Robotics have enabled high throughput assays Automated Pre-screening of feedstock-derived inhibitors of bacterial growth Biomek Robot Inhibitor concentration Inhibitors 96-well microtiter plate 15

16 State of the science Cheap sequencing lots of new data lots of unknown enzymes even more poorly understood enzymes Various HighThroughput methods - analytics - omics profiling - biological selection large amounts of empirical data to help inform genetics Creating deep understanding of biological systems - enzymes in context versus one off - signaling - regulation Demonstrating that we have really understood SynBio Conducting efficient research 16

17 Definitions of SynBio vary Commercialization Building new organisms from the ground up Creating de novo solutions synthetically Use of gene synthesis products ( genetic code DNA in the mail)??? 5-10 years Now Some degree of GM Generation & application of systemic understanding Now 0-5 years 17

18 Governance and risks a dilemma Deep understanding Getting there efficienty & quickly Getting there slowly Risk free applications Opportunity for abuse Same dilemma with other technologies Nuclear Chemistry Electronics How to minimize the negatives while capturing the positives But Infinite set of possibilities 18

19 Disclaimer This paper was produced for a meeting organized Health & Consumers DG and represents the views of its author on the subject. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the Commission's or Health & Consumers DG's views. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof. 19