The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI): Developing New Biofuels by Overcoming Biomass Recalcitrance
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The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI): Developing New Biofuels by Overcoming Biomass Recalcitrance Henrik Vibe Scheller & Seema Singh & Harvey Blanch & Jay D. Keasling
Published online: 24 March 2010 # The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract The mission of the Joint BioEnergy Institute is to advance the development of the next-generation of biofuels— liquid fuels derived from the solar energy stored in plant biomass. The papers in this volume describe some of the research conducted in the area of feedstocks development and biomass deconstruction. Keywords Biofuels . Cellulases . Synthetic biology . Pretreatment
Introduction Fossil fuels provide 85% of the US energy requirements, a figure that is similar in most countries. Energy demands are H. V. Scheller : S. Singh : H. Blanch : J. D. Keasling Joint BioEnergy Institute, 5885 Hollis St., Emeryville, CA 94608, USA H. V. Scheller (*) : J. D. Keasling Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Singh Sandia National Laboratories, Biomass Science and Conversion Technology Department, Livermore, CA 94551, USA H. Blanch : J. D. Keasling Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA J. D. Keasling Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
increasing with population growth and economic development. This situation is not sustainable for several reasons; oil reserves are limited, and the increasing use of oil and coal leads to ever increasing CO2 emissions, which carry the risk of climate change. For these reasons, we must explore the potential for developing sustainable and renewable energy sources. For the USA, as for many other countries that are net importers of fossil fuels, the desire to develop more sustainable energy sources is furthermore driven by the prospect of increased energy security and independence. It is estimated that each year the surface of the earth receives about 1017 W h of solar energy. Current worldwide human energy consumption is estimated to be 13×1012 W h per year. Clearly, there is sufficient energy available in an hour of global sunlight to meet human energy needs for a year. A substantial portion of this solar energy is stored in the form of biomass. Converting solar energy to advanced biofuels could meet most, if not all, US transportation energy needs without producing carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. Renewable energy produced from other sources, or by direct combustion of biomass, lead to generation of electricity, which can be used for many different purposes. However, for transportation, it is essential to have a supply of liquid fuels that meets the requirements of combustion engines used in cars, trucks, airplanes, and ships. In a longer perspective, it may be possible to develop electric cars for much of the short distance transport needs. However, no alternative to liquid fuels is realistic for truck, s
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