Plant cell wall utilization in a variety of natural and industrial processes is hampered by the lignin component. To make lignin easier to degrade, Wisconsin researchers discovered how chemically reac...
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Production of fuels and chemicals from biomass requires utilization of all biomass fractions, i.e., cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. Thus, product molecules from all fractions of biomass must be ...
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Exploiting the energy potential of biomass high in cellulose and lignin—including grasses, shrubs, husks, bark, yard and mill offal not readily digestible by humans—offers a vast and renew...
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Lignocellulosic biomass is a very desirable feedstock for biofuel production.  If the fermentation process for lignocellulose could be optimized, conversion of this biomass could yield 25 to 50 b...
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Lignocellulosic biomass is a very desirable feedstock for biofuel production. If the fermentation process for lignocellulose could be optimized, conversion of this biomass could yield 25 to 50 billion...
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Plant biomass represents a vast and renewable source of energy. However, harnessing this energy requires breaking down tough lignin and cellulose cell walls. In nature, certain microbes can deconstruc...
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To recover useful carbohydrates locked in biomass, molecular bonds must be broken while avoiding further reaction of the resulting glucose and xylose sugars. This is a challenge because glucose can de...
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Lignocellulosic biomass is a very desirable feedstock for biofuel production. If the fermentation process could be optimized, conversion of this biomass could yield 25 to 50 billion gallons of ethanol...
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Lignin is an important plant cell wall component that provides structural support and vascular functions. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, constituting about 30 percent of non...
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Methods to produce bioethanol from cornstarch or sugarcane are inadequate to meet the global demand for renewable fuels. To be sustainable, biofuel production should rely on abundant, cheap, inedible ...
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Commercial interest in the production of commodity chemicals from renewable sources continues to surge. Among these chemicals, α,ω-diols are particularly attractive because of the high market prices...
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Cellulosic biomass has tremendous potential as a renewable resource for the production of fuels and chemicals.  It is especially promising because it is inexpensive and readily available from cro...
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Many species of Streptomyces are used industrially in the production of medicines, proteins and other fine commodity chemicals. However, the vast majority must be grown on high-cost glucose feedstock ...
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To produce pulp from wood, harsh chemicals are applied during cooking and bleaching mainly because lignin is tough to break down. To make it easier to degrade, Wisconsin researchers discovered how che...
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The platform molecule HMF is derived from biomass and converted into a variety of downstream products. One of the most important of these is FDCA, which is used as a monomer in the production of fiber...
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Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms capable of producing far more sugar per acre than corn, sugarcane or sugar beet. Unlike other bacteria and yeast, cyanobacteria use atmospheric CO2 as t...
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Fuel cells and other types of electrochemical cells rely on platinum cathodes to drive oxygen reduction. Although efficient, platinum cathodes are expensive given the element’s relative scarcity. On...
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Catalysts for organic chemical transformations, in particular those used for alcohol oxidations, are considered to be valuable commodities for the bulk, fine chemical as well as pharmaceutical industr...
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Producing biofuel on an industrial scale requires efficient fermentation of cellulosic plant material. Glucose and xylose are two of the most abundant sugars found in biomass. The yeast most commonly ...
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The lignin in corn stalks makes it difficult to process for biomass and harder for animals to digest. Levels are especially high in the tough outer ‘rind’ and vascular bundles of the stem. For th...
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A biomass-derived chemical called HMF (5-hydroxymethylfurfural) can be turned into a variety of industrial molecules. For example, it can be reduced to BHMF or 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl) furan, an importa...
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Levoglucosenone (LGO) is a highly dehydrated sugar typically derived from cellulose. It is an important, non-petroleum building block chemical with potential uses in a wide range of industrial process...
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Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) use solar energy to produce fuels, much as nature does through photosynthesis. In a typical PEC, fuels are formed by reduction reactions at the cathode. For example, ...
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Gamma-valerolactone (GVL) is an inexpensive solvent derived from biomass that can be used to break apart tough lignocellulose into fermentable sugars including xylose and glucose. GVL-based techniques...
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Manufacturing paper and producing biofuels is difficult because the lignin in plant cell walls is tough to degrade. Current techniques are energy intensive and use harsh chemicals. In the case of biof...
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