Researchers advance next generation biofuels by turning up the heat on biomass pretreatment processes

The nation's Renewable Fuels Standard calls for annual production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. One of the biggest hurdles to achieving this goal lies in optimizing the multistep process involved in breaking down plant biomass and then converting it into fermentable sugars that can be refined into fuel for our transportation needs. To overcome this challenge, the U.S. Department of Energy supports several projects focused on identifying enzymes from fungi and microbes such as cellulases—that breakdown plant cell walls—and heat-tolerant industrial-strength host cell systems to drive these reactions.

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