JBEI Researchers Produce High Density Jet Fuel Precursors from Bacteria

BioChemicals/Renewable Chemicals, China, Energy, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Infrastructure, Precursors/Biointermediates, Process, R & D Focus

October 24, 2018

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(Green Car Congress) Researchers with the US Department of Energy (DOE) Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), with colleagues in China, have produced the tricyclic sesquiterpenes epi-isozizaene, pentalenene and α-isocomene—promising jet fuel feedstocks—at high production titers, providing novel, sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based jet fuels. An open-access paper on their work appears in Biotechnology for Biofuels.

Sesquiterpene compounds (C₁₅) such as farnesene and bisabolene have already been identified as promising jet fuel candidates.

The JBEI team explored three sesquiterpenes—epi-isozizaene, pentalenene and α-isocomene—as novel jet fuel precursors. The researchers performed a computational analysis to calculate the energy of combustion of these sesquiterpenes and found that their specific energies are comparable to commercial jet fuel A-1.

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They also introduced a dynamic autoinduction system using previously identified FPP-responsive promoters for inducer-free production and managed to achieve comparable amounts of each compound. READ MORE

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