EFRI-PSBR: Biodiversity & Biofuels: Finding Win-Win Scenarios for Conservation and Energy Production in the Next Century

由于气候变化和化石燃料储量的减少，开发藻类生物燃料等可再生能源已成为国家的优先事项。到目前为止，大多数关于藻类生物燃料的研究都集中在识别“超级物种”--可以通过基因改造并在最大限度地生产可燃脂肪的环境条件下生长的藻类菌株。虽然在理想的实验室条件下种植高脂藻类单一培养物相对容易，但将这些培养物扩大到商业上可行的规模一直是一个挑战，因为那里的种群经常剧烈波动。单一养殖在捕获和回收营养废物方面也往往效率低下，导致对其环境影响和可持续性的担忧。事实上，一些人认为，单一物种的能源生产方法可能会产生与困扰单一物种粮食生产方法相同的环境问题。在绿色革命期间，大片土地被转化为高产作物单一种植，需要集约化管理和使用杀菌剂和化肥来维持生产力。虽然现代农业的出现在养活人们方面取得了巨大的成功，但它也成为全球生物多样性丧失、有机污染和水质恶化的主要原因。商业规模的单一藻类养殖生产生物燃料有可能重复许多同样的破坏环境的做法，并对保护构成同样的挑战。是否有可能为生物多样性和生物燃料生产找到“双赢”方案？我们能否发展可持续的生物燃料，同时避免意外的环境影响，并保护生物多样性，这是所有可再生资源的最终来源？由生态学家和工程师组成的跨学科团队，密歇根大学的布拉德利·卡迪纳尔教授、菲利普·萨维奇教授和尼娜·林教授，以及加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的托德·奥克利教授认为，这是可能的。在这个由国家科学基金会通过其新兴前沿研究和创新计划授予的项目中，该团队打算测试这样一个假设，即某些自然不同的藻类具有互补特征，可以提高生物燃料产量的效率和稳定性，而不是任何单一物种可以单独实现的。这一假说源于大量的生态学研究，这些研究表明，只要物种专门利用养分或光照，或以不同的方式对环境波动做出反应，多样性群落将(A)更有效地获取可用资源，(B)生产更多的生物量，甚至比单一最具生产力的物种更多，(C)随着时间的推移保持更稳定的产量。这项工作的最终目标是确定最多产和最可持续的多物种藻类生物燃料系统，然后从长远来看，将这些系统扩大到商业上可行的生物精炼厂。该项目工作的关键成果之一将是生成一个新的基因组数据库，该数据库将识别参与生产生物原油的代谢途径的编码基因。这个数据库不仅将有助于识别导致生物燃料生产的遗传密码，还将向希望利用基因工程进一步提高藻类生物燃料的效率、生产力和稳定性的未来研究人员提供该密码。调查小组已经与密歇根大学的工程多样性和外展中心以及美国生态学会的种子推广服务等现有项目合作，帮助挑选学生人员。利用这些计划将通过将研究人员与寻求研究机会的少数民族和经济上处于不利地位的少数民族联系起来，促进少数群体对科学的参与。除了培训一批新的科学家外，该团队还与莱斯利科学与自然中心合作，促进可持续藻类生物燃料的公共教育。莱斯利科学与自然中心是密歇根州的一家非营利性组织，每年向2.5万名游客提供环境教育和体验，这些游客大多是从幼儿园到高中生。将开发一个动手科学展览，向公众传授藻类提取的可持续生物油的好处，并将利用“公民科学家”夏令营向孩子们展示如何收集、识别、培养和消化生物燃料生产中常用的藻类。

ABSTRACTDevelopment of renewable energy resources like algal biofuels has become a national priority due to climate change and dwindling fossil fuel reserves. To date, most research on algal biofuel has focused on identifying "super-species" - strains of algae that can be genetically modified and grown in environmental conditions that maximize production of combustible lipids. While it is relatively easy to grow high lipid algal monocultures in idealistic lab conditions, it has been challenging to scale-up these cultures to commercially viable scales where populations often fluctuate wildly. Monocultures also tend to be inefficient at capturing and recycling nutrient waste streams, leading to concerns about their environmental impacts and sustainability. Indeed, some have argued that single-species approaches to energy production could generate the same environmental problems that have plagued single species approaches to food production. During the green revolution, vast tracts of land were converted into high-yield crop monocultures that required intensive management and application of biocides and fertilizers to maintain productivity. While the advent of modern agriculture was a huge success for feeding people, it also became the leading cause of biodiversity loss, organic pollution, and degraded water quality worldwide. Commercial-scale 'farming' of algal monocultures to produce biofuel has potential to repeat many of the same environmentally damaging practices, and poses the same challenges to conservation.Is it a possibility to find 'win-win' scenarios for biodiversity and biofuel production? Can we develop sustainable biofuels while, at the same time, avoiding unintended environmental impacts and conserving the diversity of life that is the ultimate source of all renewable resources? The interdisciplinary team of ecologists and engineers of Professors Bradley Cardinale, Phillip Savage, and Nina Lin of the University of Michigan and Todd Oakley of the University of California Santa Barbara believe this is possible. In this project awarded by the National Science Foundation through its Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation initiative, the team intends to test the hypothesis that certain naturally diverse groups of algae have complementary traits that enhance the efficiency and stability of biofuel yield beyond what any single species can achieve alone. This hypothesis stems from a wealth of ecological research that shows whenever species specialize in their use of nutrients or light, or respond to environmental fluctuations differently, diverse communities will (a) more efficiently capture available resources, (b) produce more biomass than even the single most productive species, and (c) maintain yields more stably through time. The ultimate goal of this work is to identify the most productive and sustainable multi-species algal biofuel systems, and then, on a longer term, scale these up to commercially viable biorefineries. One of the key products of the project work will be the generation of a new genomics database that will identify the genes that code for metabolic pathways involved in the production of biocrude oil. This database will not only help identify the genetic code that leads to biofuel production, it will make that code available to future researchers who wish to use genetic engineering to enhance the efficiency, productivity, and stability of algal biofuels even further. The investigative team has partnered with established programs like the University of Michigan's Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach, and the Ecological Society of America's SEEDS extension service, to aid in selecting the student personnel. Utilizing these programs will foster participation by minority groups in the sciences by connecting researchers to ethnic and economically disadvantaged minorities who are seeking research opportunities. In addition to training a new cohort of scientists, the team has also partnered with the Leslie Science & Nature Center to promote public education on sustainable algal biofuels. The Leslie Science & Nature Center is a Michigan nonprofit that provides environmental education and experiences to 25,000 visitors annually, mostly kindergarten through high-school students. A hands-on science exhibit will be developed to teach the public about the benefits of algal derived sustainable bio-oils, and "Citizen Scientist" summer camps will be used to show kids how to collect, identify, culture, and digest algae that are commonly used in biofuel production.