Researchers will genetically modify tobacco plants to produce enzymes that can break down biomass from forest raw materials. This may lead to a more effective, economic and sustainable production of biofuels.
The first step to produce forest-based biofuels is to break down the biomass to sugar. To do this the industry needs a cocktail of enzymes. Currently the production cost of enzymes is high, which is a major impediment for a sustainable and cost effective biorefinery. This challenge is especially important for the Norwegian forest industry.
Usually chemical enzymes are produced in a fermenter-based system, which is a common industrial system to produce for instance food and alcohol. It is very expensive to build up a fermentation system. It has to be sterile, and it needs a lot of energy and water to control pressure and temperature. The Bioboost project will decrease the carbon footprint of biorefining by using genetically engineered tobacco, a non-food and non-feed crop, as a green enzyme factory. The goal is to replace energy demanding fermenter-based systems.
“Plants can use CO2 and energy from the sun for free. The whole production process of making the enzymes in plants is cheap, and environmentally friendly,” explains Dr. Jihong Liu Clarke from Bioforsk – The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research. She is the leader of the Bioboost research project.
The tobacco plant is according to Liu Clarke ideal for this purpose, because it has a good biomass in the sense of many, and big, leaves. It also grows quickly, and can be harvested three or four times a year.
Read full, original article: Tobacco plants may boost biofuel and biorefining industries
