Discovery of New Bacteria May Have Huge Impact on Biomass Fuel Technology

Amanda Mitchell for TEI

For thousands of years, ethanol, a type of alcohol derived from microbial consumption of fruits and grains, has been created by brewers of beer. In the recent past, ethanol derived from corn has been added to gasoline to replace a toxin harmful to the environment. And now, with new research conducted by Dr. Susan Leschine and her team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it is only a matter of time before ethanol from whole plants is available as a source of fuel.

According to Leschine, after searching through thousands of soil samples from all over the world, she discovered a plant-eating bacterial species named Clostridium phytofermentans, or C-phy for short, in soil collected near the Quabbin Reservoir. This particular species of bacteria is unique because it has the capability to break down nearly all components of plant waste, while other species are only able to break down certain parts. It is this feature of the bacterium that excites Leschine and her team, as it opens many previously unavailable doors within the science of biomass fuel technology.

The newly discovered bacterium has huge potential for the advancement of a fuel technology known as cellulosic ethanol, and could potentially ease the strain placed on consumer wallets due to high gasoline prices. According to Leschine, C-phy could become economically efficient enough to eventually challenge the gasoline industry. Her newly formed company, SunEthanol, is currently working to build an effective business model for cellulosic ethanol production and to advance the development of the technology based on her research.

SunEthanol is comprised of a core team of six, including Leschine, who are working within different areas of expertise to start the company. To help her with the financial aspects of the company, Leschine is partnering with Jattra Ventures, a local company based in Amherst with an interest in commercializing clean technologies. Leschine says that the company has great credentials as well as experience and desire to successfully drive University clean energy technology from the lab to the marketplace.

“We’re interested in building the business and developing the technology to the point where we can provide blueprints to engineering companies and have them start to build the plants needed to create the fuel,” said Leschine.

The biofuel plants, Leschine envisions, would look something like large vats. The process to convert plant waste to ethanol takes a few days from start to finish, meaning that any structure supporting the production of the ethanol would need to be large enough to include space for the plant matter to break down. Though this poses a problem, Leschine is confident that eventually the simplicity of the process will prove to be economical and the benefits of this new fuel system will outweigh the costs.

One such benefit is the remarkable versatility of the system. Since the bacteria can break down nearly all types of plant waste, there is no need to turn food crops into fuel, as is currently done with corn. Leschine also says that there is the possibility of using plant waste from other industries such as paper mills and breweries to create the ethanol fuel.

Another benefit is that the system is sustainable and potentially carbon-neutral. The by-product of burning ethanol as fuel is carbon dioxide, which plants naturally take out of the atmosphere during growth. As long as plants continue to grow and take in carbon dioxide, there will be no net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when cellulosic ethanol is burned. The system will be able to continue in an ecologically balanced cycle, without increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming and climate change.

With the development of Leschine’s technology well underway, she is hopeful that the new fuel will be marketable within the next few years.

Of her accomplishment, Leschine said, “This new technology could potentially mean very big things for the University, and even the planet. I felt obligated to do what I could to be sure that the technology gets used.”