Extremophilic microbes in production of biofuels
In the project, hydrogen and/or ethanol producing thermophilic microorganisms derived from hot springs and halophilic microorganisms isolated from hypersaline lakes are being studied. The use of thermophilic microorganisms enables the bioprocess temperatures higher than the distillation point of ethanol, in which case the gasified biofuels can be collected from continuous bioprocess and the end-product inhibition is prevented. The advantage of halophiles, on the other hand, is the rareness of hydrogen utilizing methanogens in hypersaline environments and therefore, hydrogen production should not be impacted by hydrogen consuming bacteria in such environments and sterilization costs of large bioprocesses can be reduced. Organic wastes such as cellulosic material from paper and pulp industry and industrial glycerol from biodiesel production are used as substrates in bioprocesses. Molecular biotechnology, systems biology and bioprocess engineering are used to study and engineer the extremophilic strains as well as the bioprocess. The whole-genome sequencing provides valuable information about the metabolic routes and enables targeted metabolic engineering for maximal hydrogen and/or ethanol production.
Responsible persons: Professor Matti Karp, PhD Ville Santala
Researchers: MSc Alessandro Ciranna, MSc Tech Anniina Kivistö
Funding: Academy of Finland, TUT President's Doctoral Programme
Duration: 2008-2012