About 10% of the UK’s fuel needs could come from a new strain of bacteria found in compost heaps.

Researchers at TMO Renewables told scientists at the Society of General Microbiology’s meeting in Dublin this week that the bacteria can convert plant fibers into ethanol. Eventually, that process could fuel 10% of the country’s transport requirements.

The bacteria can break down straw, hedge clippings, garden trimmings, cardboard as well as other biodegradable substances.

“The bioethanol produced in our process can be blended with existing gasoline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says Paul Milner, the fermentation development manager of Surrey-based TMO Renewables Ltd. Milner says the new strain is more energy-intensive and cheaper than traditional yeast-based processes.

The company’s scientists searched through thousands of naturally occurring bacteria, looking for those specifically that loved heat and liked feeding off different plant-based materials. It found its bacteria, from the Geobacillus family, and altered its internal metabolism. The bacteria produces lactic acid in its wild form when it breaks down biomass and TMO modified its internal metabolism to produce ethanol instead.

In the UK alone, there is seven million tons of surplus straw each year. Turning garbage and other agricultural waste into ethanol also makes more sense than crop-derived biofuels, the company believes.

Via Science Daily, The Environmental Transport Association; Photo via nakedcharlton

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