New solution turning waste into biofuels

The waste stalks and leaves of crops after threshing were near 7 hundred millions tons each year in China. Most farmers burn the waste, which increased the CO2 and PM10, decreased visibility in the air and caused air pollution in the regions.

After research, we discovered that there are in fact several alternatives to processing the waste, including using methane tank, or using combined harvesters and recycling stalks, but all of them will create some problems and none of them is cost-effective enough for the farmers. Burning, in fact, creates ashes that is a great fertilizer with its high phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen that is preserved in the soil after burning. Synthetic biology to engineer the E.coli to efficiently convert cellulose that is wasted into much more useful biofuels becomes a promising possible direction that could potentially be very cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative. Today’s biofuels are usually produced from corn crops. Paddy rice and wheat stalks(30%-40% is cellulose), the main crop in China, are, however, not rich in oil and starch like corn that can be easily converted to biofuels via fermentation.

We would like to engineer the E.coli to consume the high cellulose content in the stalks and produce glucose that can then be turned into biofuels easily.