Biofuels research partnership to continue moving forward

Microbial developers for the biofuels and green chemicals industries Biotork and the Agricultural Research Service‘s Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Centre (ARS-PBARC) will extend a collaboration to convert agricultural by-products into biofuels and other products.

The pair first began work together in 2011 and began focusing on developing strains of heterotrophic oil-producing (oleaginous) microorganisms capable of converting papaya culls into oil, and use the microbial meal as feed for cattle and fish.

’Papaya culls were used as a first targeted feedstock in the project because of the large quantities available in Hawaii,’ says Tom Lyons, chief science officer of Florida-based Biotork. ‘The objective, however, was to demonstrate that the approach can be used on any agricultural or industrial by-products for the production of renewable fuels and high protein meal.’

Encouraged by current positive results, ARS-PBARC wants to carry on and look into strain optimisation for a small-scale pilot plant and strain development for the conversion of a number of specific agro-industrial waste streams.