RICEFUEL
Engineering enzymes, bacteria and bioconversion processes for advanced biofuels from waste grain straw
Under construction!
The aim of the project is to utilise rice straw waste to make biofuels, via a process which will synthesise butanol and then later alkanes, chemicals that are more similar to biodiesel. Rice straw is a good choice for this project as the call for grant applications specifically ruled out using crop land or foodstuffs. Rice straw is a problematic waste product in India. The combination of low nutritional value and high silica content make it unsuitable as an animal feed. The straw makes a poor choice to be simply burned for fuel as the silica causes fine clogging ash to be produced.
It is anticipated that when the biofuel process if proven for rice straw, it will also be applicable to wheat straw in the UK.
The start-up meeting for the project was held at ICGEB, New Delhi, on 11-12 February 2014.
Project Partners
- University of Nottingham (Prof Nigel Minton: project coordinator)
- Newcastle University
- University of York
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi (Dr Shams Yazdani, Indian coordinator)
- Jawarhalal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai
- Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.
Funding
- BBSRC, UK
- DBT, India