Arizona Researchers Formulate Ways for Biofuel Production from Microbes

Arizona Researchers have formulated ways for biofuel production from Microbes thus unleashing a cleaner way for unlocking their energy. Algae as well as photosynthetic bacteria hold treasures in the form of fat molecules called lipids that can be converted into renewable biofuels.

Such organisms are generally called as cyanobacteria while being capable of producing approximately 15,000 gallons of biofuel per acre, an equivalent of forest or plant products that include switchgrass or corn while requiring only simple nutrients such as CO₂ and sunlight for growth.

Arizona State University researchers at the Biodesign Institute, Jie Sheng as well as his colleagues, have been exploring novel methods towards performing lipid extraction through less harmful means. The research team has successfully tested various formulas for high efficiency lipid recovery. The two best solutions for photosynthetic biofuel production are algae and cyanobacteria.