‘Woody’ Biomass Breakthrough: Fungus is the Key

PlanetSave.com
Written by Michael Ricciardi
Published on July 25th, 2010

The resurgent interest in alternative fuels has propelled interest in using biomass “feedstocks” as an energy source for liquid fuel and bio-electricity generation. But bio-fuel (and other ‘commodity chemicals’) derived from ‘woody’ biomass faces one big technical challenge: how to separate the useful constituents of cellulose-based biomass (i.e., its its six-carbon, building block sugars) from the not so useful ones (such as lignin and hemicellulose)?

In the past, attempts have been made to do this separation by applying acid/base compounds to the biomass, or even adding microbes to digest the tough proteins–with less than satisfying results. Now, however, research by Ray et al, has shown promising results, and the key is a well-known variety of fungus.

Before woody (or cellulose) biomass can be ‘depolymerized’ and converted into fuel, constituents like lignin (a tough protein) have to be separated from the cellulose. Recent research has shown that two types of brown rot fungus are able to do this with significant efficiency.

The two types of brown-rot fungi used by Ray et al are the Coniophora puteana and Postia placenta varieties, and their research showed that a 3 to 4 week treatment of the biomass (sapwood from pine trees in this case) “significant;y enhances the release of sugars (the actual fuel source) by cellulose enzymes.” *

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