Scientists develop six-carbon alcohol at body temperatures using e.coli – breakthrough offers high density bioenergy, transportable through existing infrastructure

Science News, New Scientist, and the National Academy of Sciences are reporting on a new process to genetically engineer e.coli bacteria to produce six-carbon alcohols. In nature, carbon chains range from two-molecule (ethanol) up to five-carbon; the breakthrough represents not only a unique synthetic organic molecule, but one with higher energy density.

The higher energy density will produce more mileage efficiency, and long-chain carbons can be easily separated from water, making them transportable using existing pipeline infrastructiure. Although long-chanin carbons can be artificially created using exotic amounts of heat and pressure, the e.coli process works at room temperature.

The researchers have produced under 400 milligrams of fuel from 20 grams of bacteria: next step is to scale up production.

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