Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | BB/H004270/1 | |
| Title | Aromatic feedstock chemicals from degradation of lignin | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Renewable Energy Sources(Bio-Energy, Other bio-energy) 20%; Not Energy Related 60%; Energy Efficiency(Industry) 20%; |
|
| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (Biological Sciences) 25%; PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Chemistry) 75%; |
|
| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Not Cross-cutting 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Professor TDH Bugg No email address given Chemistry University of Warwick |
|
| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | BBSRC | |
| Start Date | 26 October 2009 | |
| End Date | 25 October 2012 | |
| Duration | 36 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £377,681 | |
| Industrial Sectors | ||
| Region | West Midlands | |
| Programme | Innovation and Skills Initiatives | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Professor TDH Bugg , Chemistry, University of Warwick (99.999%) |
| Other Investigator | Dr PR Norris , School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick (0.001%) |
|
| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | ||
| Abstract | One of the biggest problems facing society today is our dependence on dwindling fossil fuels, and the contribution to global warming of power stations, car transport and domestic heating that make use of fossil fuels. Not only is oil used to prepare fuel, but also an essential by-product of oil refining is the production of raw materials for chemical and pharmaceutical synthesis. In 50-100 years time, all of these chemicals will need to be produced from renewable, non-petroleum sources, but at present we have very limited methods to do this, so a lot of new technology needs to be developed in a relatively short space of time. The carbon content of plant lignocellulose, found in plant cell walls, represents an abundant source of renewable carbon. One component of lignocellulose is an aromatic polymer called lignin, that binds the cellulose cell walls together. Lignin is very hard to break down, so at present lignocellulose is broken down via a 'pre-treatment' step, usually involving heating with acid and steam to 200 oC, which consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, if we could use Nature to break down the lignin, we would improve the efficiency of lignocellulose breakdown, and liberate useful aromatic by-products. We have recently developed a new method for identifying strains of bacteria that are able to break down lignin, and we have already found several strains of bacteria that are able to do this. We will isolate the lignin-degrading enzymes from these strains, and use molecular genetics to produce large quantities of these enzymes for further studies. We will then use these strains to try to produce useful aromatic chemicals from breakdown of lignocellulose. One example is vanillin, which is used for food flavouring in products such as vanilla ice cream; other examples are phenols that are used in the manufacture of plastics | |
| Publications | (none) |
|
| Final Report | (none) |
|
| Added to Database | 21/09/11 | |
