Monday, October 15, 2007

One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil

Mascoma, Novozymes and Verenium
From Wired:

On a blackboard, it looks so simple: Take a plant and extract the cellulose. Add some enzymes and convert the cellulose molecules into sugars. Ferment the sugar into alcohol. Then distill the alcohol into fuel. One, two, three, four — and we're powering our cars with lawn cuttings, wood chips, and prairie grasses instead of Middle East oil. Unfortunately, passing chemistry class doesn't mean acing economics.
Good line, huh? Here's more:
Trace the fortunes of cellulosic ethanol over the past three decades and you'll find that the arc almost perfectly mirrors Lee Lynd's career. The 49-year-old Dartmouth professor started in a compost heap in the 1970s...MORE

HT: Renewable Energy Law Blog