Prospects for microbial biodiesel production
Journal article, 2011
As the demand for biofuels for transportation is increasing, it is necessary to develop technologies that will allow for low-cost production of biodiesel. Conventional biodiesel is mainly produced from vegetable oil by chemical transesterification. This production, however, has relatively low land-yield and is competing for agricultural land that can be used for food production. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in developing microbial fermentation processes for production of biodiesel as this will allow for the use of a wide range of raw-materials, including sugar cane, corn, and biomass. Production of biodiesel by microbial fermentation can be divided into two different approaches, (1) indirect biodiesel production from oleaginous microbes by in vitro transesterification, and (2) direct biodiesel production from redesigned cell factories. This work reviews both microbial approaches for renewable biodiesel production and evaluates the existing challenges in these two strategies.
opacus strain pd630
Systems biology
single-cell oil
fuel properties
storage lipids
oleaginous microorganisms
Microbial biodiesel
production
Biofuel
saccharomyces-cerevisiae
biofuel
Metabolic engineering
Fatty acids
systems biology
engineering microbes
gamma-linolenic acid
Author
Shuobo Shi
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Life Sciences
Juan Octavio Valle Rodriguez
Chalmers University of Technology
Verena Siewers
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Life Sciences
Jens B Nielsen
Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Life Sciences
Biotechnology journal
1860-6768 (ISSN) 1860-7314 (eISSN)
Vol. 6 3 277-285Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Industrial Biotechnology
Areas of Advance
Energy
Life Science Engineering (2010-2018)
DOI
10.1002/biot.201000117