A giant leap was made in the study of biofuel and biochemical production from wastewood when experts from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands conducted a research that led to a significant discovery.
The researchers found out that a bacterium called Cupriavidus basilensis could break down harmful by-products produced when wood releases sugar. They were also able to incorporate the bacteria degradation process. The discovery, published in the March issue of the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (PNAS), could encourage the removal of methods that are considered harmful to the environment and raise awareness of waste wood as a useful form of resource.
Using plant or wood waste to produce chemicals and biofuels like bioethanol is advantageous as these raw materials are not affected by food production. But these “second generation raw materials” are not ideal. Lignocelluloses, which pertain to the sugar found in wood, cannot be digested well by microorganisms that turn biomass into raw materials that can be utilized. Initially, these complex sugars have to be emitted and broken down into units that can be digested. Harmful by-products, including furans, can be produced through this process.
However, cupriavidus basilensis can breakdown furans into waste products that are safe, according to researchers Nick Wierckx and Frank Koopman.
Supervisor Han de Winde, an Industrial Microbiology professor at TU Delft’s Biotechnology Department, commented:
“The fact that we now have a process for breaking down furans, not to mention one that can be successfully incorporated into other organisms, paves the way for removing these kinds of compounds during the production of second-generation chemicals and fuels from waste wood. This enables us to avoid the costly and environmentally unfriendly methods which are currently used to remove furans. That makes using wood waste as a sustainable raw material a much more attractive proposition”.
