US researchers discover powerful cellulosic ethanol enzymes in fabric-rotting fungus of WWII fame

In New Mexico, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and Los Alamos National Laboratory said that the biomass-degrading fungus Trichoderma reesei has an array of enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production. The fungus attained notoriety for its fabric-rotting capability in South Pacific operations during the Second World War.

“Improved industrial enzyme ‘cocktails’ from T. reesei and other fungi will enable more economical conversion of biomass from such feedstocks as the perennial grasses Miscanthus and switchgrass, wood from fast-growing trees like poplar, agricultural crop residues, and municipal waste, into next-generation biofuels,” the researchers said. The research has been published in Nature Biotechnology.

In California, Novozymes has projected that US production of cellulosic ethanol will exceed first-generation biofuels by 2022. Novoymes was one of four companies to share $33.8 million in research grants for cellulosic ethanol projects in California and New Jersey. The four-year research grants come from a $1 billion fund the DOE established to finance cellulosic ethanol research. The grants are for projects researching advanced enzymes for converting cellulose into sugars.

The US Energy Department most recently awarded $114 million in grants to cellulosic ethanol projects in Missouri, Oregon, Colorado and Wisconsin. The demonstration projects were proposed by ICM, for a plant in in St. Joseph, Missouri; Lignol Innovations, for a plant in Commerce City, Colorado; Pacific Ethanol, for a plant in Boardman, Oregon; and Stora Enso North America for a plant in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Pacific Ethanol received $24.32 million, while the others received $30 million.Last February, the Department of Energy awarded $385 million to six cellulosic ethanol projects. They were Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, for a facility in Colwich, Kansas; ALICO Inc., for a facility in LaBelle, Florida; BlueFire Ethanol, for a facility located in Corona, California; POET, for their “project liberty” facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa; Iogen Biorefinery Partners, for a facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Range Fuels, for a facility in Soperton, Georgia.

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