Towards process development of bacterial strains able to convert renewables into biofuels and other useful chemical commodities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Molecular Medical Sciences
Abstract
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| Description | A joint Bioenergy Workshop sponsored by the BBSRC and the Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) was held in New Delhi from October 9th to 13th 2011, bringing together researchers with interests in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. It was notable that the Indian delegation offered a range of skills in process engineering and scale up, whereas the UK delegation was characterised by bringing cutting edge, genomic, systems and synthetic biology approaches to many areas of bioenergy development. This partnership emerged out of the discussions held at the workshop. By combining the respective strengths of the two communities, there is a real opportunity to make significant progress towards bacterial-based routes to chemicals and fuels from biomass. Having formed the partnership, an opportunity arose to cement the collaboration with a programme of work within the BBSRC-DBT Sustainable bioenergy and biofuels (SuBB) programme between India (ICGEB, ICT and Jawaharlal Nehru and Madurai Kamraj University) and the UK (Universities of Nottingham, York, Oxford Brookes and Newcastle). The partnership funds were used to support the first meeting of the group in January 2013 where the forthcoming joint work was planned. |
| Exploitation Route | Having formed the partnership, an opportunity arose to cement the collaboration with a programme of work within the BBSRC-DBT Sustainable bioenergy and biofuels (SuBB) programme between India (ICGEB, ICT and Jawaharlal Nehru and Madurai Kamraj University) and the UK (Universities of Nottingham, York, Oxford Brookes and Newcastle). The partnership funds were used to support the first meeting of the group in January 2013 where the forthcoming joint work was planned. At the end of the award, the partners met againat ICT Mumbai specifically to discuss opportunities in the forthcoming Global Challenge Research Fund (GSRF). External parties, in particular the Director of the Anaerobic Digestion network, were invited to review opportunities for turning Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) into value added chemicals. This has subsequently led to a expression of Interest bid to the GCRF HUB initiative, which is through to the next stage. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Creative Economy,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | The partnership award has allowed the establishment of a partnership of Indian and UK laboratories that successfully bid for funding under the BBSRC-DBT Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuels (SuBB) programme. The overall aim of the project, RICEFUEL, is the pilot-scale development of a microbial based process able to convert rice straw-derived sugars into the advanced biofuels butanol and alkanes. The RICEFUEL proposal draws on the key strengths of the two research communities, and in particular INDIA's expertise/skills in rice straw pre-treatment and hydrolysis, process development and scale-up combined with UK skills/expertise in enzyme characterisation, systems/synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. The project cemented collaboration between the two communities. In the final year, the partnership bid for a GCRF HUB award which will focus on growing problem of the large-scale accumulation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in developing countries through its biological conversion into chemicals, fuels and animal feed. The proposal is through to the second stage. If eventually successful, the project will bring about a reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions and improve the health and wealth of ODA countries. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | BBSRC - DBT SuBB Award: RICEFUEL |
| Amount | £1,393,966 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/K020358/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2013 |
| End | 10/2016 |
| Description | Newton Bhabha Industrial Waste: Reducing Industrial Waste from Sugarcane Processing in India |
| Amount | £711,827 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S01196X/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 09/2021 |