August 21, 2018
University of Nottingham
Researchers have found that
seawater can replace freshwater to produce the sustainable fuel Bioethanol,
reducing the need to drain precious resources.
Researchers have found that
seawater can replace freshwater to produce the sustainable fuel Bioethanol,
reducing the need to drain precious resources.
The study -- 'The
establishment of a marine focused biorefinery for bioethanol production using
seawater and a novel marine yeast strain' -- has been published in Scientific
Reports and was carried out by researchers at the University of
Nottingham. Their results showed that seawater can be used in Bioethanol
production along with a new strain of marine based yeast.
Dr Abdelrahman Zaky, a
microbiologist in the School of Biosciences, conducted his research using
seawater from the Lincolnshire coast and took his marine yeast samples from
various locations in the UK, US and Egypt. He put them through the fermentation
process in the laboratories in Bioenergy and Brewing Science Building at the
University's Sutton Bonington campus.
Dr Zaky said: "Current
fermentation technologies mainly use edible crops and freshwater for the
production of bioethanol. With an ever growing population and demand for
biofuels and other bio-based produces, there are concerns over the use of the
limited freshwater and food crops resources for non-nutritional activities.
Also, freshwater has a high price tag in countries where it is available,
pushing up the price of production."
Increased awareness of global
warming and climate change, combined with petrol price rises, has led to the
search for alternative sustainable sources of energy. Bioethanol has been
considered one of the best fuel alternatives because it is a liquid fuel with
similar characteristics to petrol and governments around the world are looking
to increase its production.
High water footprint
Water is a key element in the
fermentation process in the production of Bioethanol, a sustainable fuel
derived from maize or sugar cane. Currently it has an extremely high-water
footprint with an estimated 1,388 to 9,812?litres of freshwater consumed for
every litre of bioethanol produced.
Dr Zaky said: "The main
purpose of marine fermentation is to introduce an alternative source of water
and biomass for industrial biotechnology in order to reduce pressure on use of
freshwater and arable land, allowing these resources to be dedicated to
production of food and feeds an reducing production costs. Marine fermentation
is the approach where seawater, marine biomass and marine microorganisms are
used in the fermentation process.
"Seawater is a freely
available and plentiful resource, and contains a spectrum of minerals, some of
which have to be added to freshwater. The fermentation process using seawater
also produces salt and freshwater as bi-products adding to economic benefits of
the process."
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Nottingham. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Abdelrahman Saleh Zaky, Darren
Greetham, Gregory A. Tucker, Chenyu Du. The establishment of a marine
focused biorefinery for bioethanol production using seawater and a novel marine
yeast strain. Scientific Reports, 2018; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30660-x
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