Apr 14 2015
Scientists from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) along with colleagues at University of Turku and Imperial College London have developed synthetic pathways that will assist in renewable biosynthesis of propane. Their findings form a part of a larger research work focused on developing next-generation biofuels, and will provide valuable insight into its development.
Propane is used in heating and transport
This significant research work brings scientists a step closer to the viable and large-scale production of renewable propane, which is crucial, considering the fact that fossil fuels continue to deplete at a rapid rate.
Professor Nigel Scrutton, Director of the MIB, explains the significance of their work: “The chemical industry is undergoing a major transformation as a consequence of unstable energy costs, limited natural resources and climate change. Efforts to find cleaner, more sustainable forms of energy as well as using biotechnology techniques to produce synthetic chemicals are currently being developed at The University of Manchester.”
Scientists have succeeded in creating a substitute microbial biosynthetic pathway for renewable propane generation even though a natural metabolic pathway for renewable propane biosynthesis is non-existent.
The team headed by Nigel Scrutton and Dr Patrik Jones from Imperial College used an engineered enzyme variant to alter the existing fermentative butanol pathway to facilitate redirection of the microbial pathway to generate propane instead of butanol.
The team successfully achieved propane biosynthesis, thereby laying the foundation for the manufacture of next generation microbial propane.
The storage and transportation of propane is possible in the form of compressed liquid as it possesses excellent physicochemical properties. Apart from the major benefit that propane is a clean-burning gas in ambient conditions, it is available globally and features infrastructure for distribution and storage, and applications range from transport fuel to heating.
As a result, propane has become a feasible target product in research focused at manufacturing new renewable options for complementing presently used petroleum-derived fuels.
Professor Scrutton comments: “This study focused on the construction and evaluation of alternative microbial biosynthetic pathways for the production of renewable propane. It also expands the metabolic toolbox for renewable propane production, providing new insight and understanding of the development of next-generation biofuels which one day could lead to commercial production.”
The European Union funded the research and involved scientists from the BBSRC/EPSRC Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Speciality Chemicals based at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, in partnership with the University of Turku in Finland and Imperial College, London.
The paper, ‘A microbial platform for renewable propane synthesis based on a fermentative butanol pathway’, was published in the open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels.