BIOFUELS — Scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany have developed a new bioprocess, similar to digestion in the human gut, that could convert waste from the dairy industry into biojet fuel (JFI Dec.11’17). Professor Lars Angenent from Tubingen’s Center of Applied Geosciences led the study into how large volumes of acid whey leftover from making cheese and yogurt could be turned into valuable products. The waste water is currently used mainly as a fertilizer since it is too acidic for use as animal feed in large quantities. Angenent explained in a research paper published by Joule how reactor microbiomes could encourage the growth of bacteria which could be “tricked to elongate the carbon backbone of chemicals,” forming an oil- like product that has six to nine carbons in a row. “The new product could be fed back to the animal as an antimicrobial to prevent disease, or it can be further processed in a refinery into aviation fuel,” Angenent says. “The innovation of the research is that the process does not need any other carbon- rich chemicals and only needs the waste water itself. In the past, [carbon] chain elongation needed external, expensive chemicals,” he added.
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