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Biofuel production by anaerobic conversion of various waste streams

Jeroen Hugenholtz

In this presentation, we will focus on the use of (microbial) fermentation to convert (biological) waste, as cheap substrate, into biofuels. The cell factory of choice is the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium beijerinckii, well-known for its A/IBE (acetone/isopropanol, butanol, ethanol) fermentation. We will demonstrate production of these biofuel-precursors from paper sludge, seaweed, municipal solid waste, potato peels and even syngas and present examples of improvement of these conversions by metabolic engineering. In addition, we will show how these alcohols and ketones can be upgraded to higher alcohols and longer alkanes by enzymatic condensation reactions.