Electrifying White Biotechnology: Engineering and Economic Potential of Electricity‐Driven Bio‐Production

Rosa, Luís F. M.; Kracke, Frauke; Virdis, Bernardino; Krömer, Jens O.

doi:10.1002/cssc.201402736

Cited by 79 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…In such a BES redox balance can be achieved without the oxidation of substrates or production of reduced by-products and instead electrons are donated to or gained from solid state electrodes and respective (a)biotic counter reactions. The BES is nowadays studied broadly as a system that allows microbes to conduct oxidative or reductive metabolism while using solid state electrodes as electron donors or acceptors (Harnisch et al, 2014; Tremblay and Zhang, 2015). The transfer of electrons can either be facilitated through a direct contact between the cell and the electrode or via soluble molecules that can exist in an oxidized and reduced state, so called mediators.…”

Section: Resource Recovery For a Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

et al. 2017

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Limits in resource availability are driving a change in current societal production systems, changing the focus from residues treatment, such as wastewater treatment, toward resource recovery. Biotechnological processes offer an economic and versatile way to concentrate and transform resources from waste/wastewater into valuable products, which is a prerequisite for the technological development of a cradle-to-cradle bio-based economy. This review identifies emerging technologies that enable resource recovery across the wastewater treatment cycle. As such, bioenergy in the form of biohydrogen (by photo and dark fermentation processes) and biogas (during anaerobic digestion processes) have been classic targets, whereby, direct transformation of lipidic biomass into biodiesel also gained attention. This concept is similar to previous biofuel concepts, but more sustainable, as third generation biofuels and other resources can be produced from waste biomass. The production of high value biopolymers (e.g., for bioplastics manufacturing) from organic acids, hydrogen, and methane is another option for carbon recovery. The recovery of carbon and nutrients can be achieved by organic fertilizer production, or single cell protein generation (depending on the source) which may be utilized as feed, feed additives, next generation fertilizers, or even as probiotics. Additionlly, chemical oxidation-reduction and bioelectrochemical systems can recover inorganics or synthesize organic products beyond the natural microbial metabolism. Anticipating the next generation of wastewater treatment plants driven by biological recovery technologies, this review is focused on the generation and re-synthesis of energetic resources and key resources to be recycled as raw materials in a cradle-to-cradle economy concept.

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Section: Resource Recovery For a Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

et al. 2017

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“…[26] Such assessment would also require the development of optimized process conditions [including efficient (upscaled) continuous electrochemical reactors, product separation procedures, and efficient ultrasound application].…”

Section: Energetic Comparison Of Electrochemical Upgrading and Currenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrochemistry for Biofuel Generation: Transformation of Fatty Acids and Triglycerides to Diesel‐Like Olefin/Ether Mixtures and Olefins

et al. 2015

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Electroorganic synthesis can be exploited for the production of biofuels from fatty acids and triglycerides. With Coulomb efficiencies (CE) of up to 50 %, the electrochemical decarboxylation of fatty acids in methanolic and ethanolic solutions leads to the formation of diesel-like olefin/ether mixtures. Triglycerides can be directly converted in aqueous solutions by using sonoelectrochemistry, with olefins as the main products (with a CE of more than 20 %). The latter reaction, however, is terminated at around 50 % substrate conversion by the produced side-product glycerol. An energy analysis shows that the electrochemical olefin synthesis can be an energetically competitive, sustainable, and--in comparison with established processes--economically feasible alternative for the exploitation of fats and oils for biofuel production.

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“…The economic viability of such a process would be determined mostly by the cost of the electricity used and the product revenue [6]. A process that aims at using CO 2 as sole carbon source (no CO) and delivering all electrons via an electrochemical route requires high charge densities, which remains a challenge to achieve in cathodic processes to date [7]. However, bio-electrochemical production technologies are not limited to the use of CO 2 , and many approaches focus on the use of organic molecules from other industrial waste streams or sustainable sources as substrates for MES, which is often titled electro-fermentation [8, 9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redox dependent metabolic shift in Clostridium autoethanogenum by extracellular electron supply

Kracke

Virdis

Bernhardt

et al. 2016

Biotechnol Biofuels

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BackgroundMicrobial electrosynthesis is a novel approach that aims at shifting the cellular metabolism towards electron-dense target products by extracellular electron supply. Many organisms including several acetogenic bacteria have been shown to be able to consume electrical current. However, suitable hosts for relevant industrial processes are yet to be discovered, and major knowledge gaps about the underlying fundamental processes still remain.ResultsIn this paper, we present the first report of electron uptake by the Gram-positive, ethanol-producing acetogen, Clostridium autoethanogenum. Under heterotrophic conditions, extracellular electron supply induced a significant metabolic shift away from acetate. In electrically enhanced fermentations on fructose, acetate production was cut by more than half, while production of lactate and 2,3-butanediol increased by 35-fold and threefold, respectively. The use of mediators with different redox potential revealed a direct dependency of the metabolic effect on the redox potential at which electrons are supplied. Only electrons delivered at a redox potential low enough to reduce ferredoxin caused the reported effect.ConclusionsProduction in acetogenic organisms is usually challenged by cellular energy limitations if the target product does not lead to a net energy gain as in the case of acetate. The presented results demonstrate a significant shift of carbon fluxes away from acetate towards the products, lactate and 2,3-butanediol, induced by small electricity input (~0.09 mol of electrons per mol of substrate). This presents a simple and attractive method to optimize acetogenic fermentations for production of chemicals and fuels using electrochemical techniques. The relationship between metabolic shift and redox potential of electron feed gives an indication of possible electron-transfer mechanisms and helps to prioritize further research efforts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13068-016-0663-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Electrifying White Biotechnology: Engineering and Economic Potential of Electricity‐Driven Bio‐Production

Cited by 79 publications

References 55 publications

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

Electrochemistry for Biofuel Generation: Transformation of Fatty Acids and Triglycerides to Diesel‐Like Olefin/Ether Mixtures and Olefins

Redox dependent metabolic shift in Clostridium autoethanogenum by extracellular electron supply

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