Researchers from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana managed to find new beneficial bacteria to convert waste into biofuels such as old newspapers excel.
Search of alternative energy sources continues to this day. Too many alternative fuel created from a variety of unusual ingredients and this time, a group of researchers to prove that even old newspapers can be processed into fuel vehicles.
Microbes named TU-103 was discovered by a team led by profesorsel and molecular biology at Tulane University named David Mullin with Harshad Velankar and student Hailee Rask after two years of work researching microbes on bagasse.
TU-103 according to the researchers is the first of the natural bacteria capable of producing butanol (biofuels that can serve as a substitute for gasoline) directly from cellulose.
“Cellulose is found in many things (including newsprint), and is the most abundant organic material on earth, and turn it into butanol is the dream of many people,” said Harshad Velankar.
“In the United States alone, at least 323 million tons of cellulosic material that can be used to produce butanol discarded every year,” he added.
“Most important about this discovery is the ability of TU-103 to produce butanol directly from cellulose,” said Mullin.
He added that the TU-103 can grow and produce butanol in the presence of oxygen. As a biofuel, butanol is superior to ethanol is usually produced from sugar and corn because it can easily become fuel existing vehicles without engine modifications.
Butanol can also be transported through a network of existing fuel pipelines, reducing the corrosive, and contains more energy than ethanol, which in turn will increase the mileage.
“This discovery could reduce the cost to produce bio-butanol,” said Mullin.
“In addition, it is very possible this could cut the price (gasoline) per gallon, as fuel, bio-butanol produced from solulosa can dramatically reduce carbon dioxide and fumes when compared with gasoline and have a positive impact on landfill waste,” he concluded.