| Project Detail |
The University of California, Irvine, proposes a cell-free enzymatic process as the first biological platform to convert carboxylic acids into a broad range of fuels and commodities with greater than 100% carbon efficiency. This is achieved using stabler bioenergy-storage and transmission molecules and specially engineered enzymes. Natural biological pathways for carboxylic acid conversion suffer from a low carbon yield, however. Compared with grain-derived sugars, this project allows carboxylic acids to be produced in large quantities from food and industrial wastes, serving as a more scalable and economical feedstock for biofuel and biochemical production. Scale-up and commercialization of the University of California, Irvine’s transformative cell-free technology will directly enable generation of high-value bioproducts less dependent on cell growth.
Potential Impact:
The application of biology to sustainable uses of waste carbon resources for the generation of energy, intermediates, and final products---i.e., supplanting the “bioeconomy”—provides economic, environmental, social, and national security benefits and offers a promising means of carbon management. |
