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经成为国家的优先事项。迄今为止，大多数关于藻类生物燃料的研究都集中在确定“超级物种”上——可以进行基因改造并在最大限度地生产可燃脂质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培养高脂藻相对容易，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，因为这些培养物的数量经常波动很大。单一栽培在捕获和回收营养废物流方面也往往效率低下，导致人们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式可能会产生与单一物种的粮食生产方式同样的环境问题。在绿色革命期间，大片土地被转变为高产作物单一栽培，这需要集约化管理和使用杀菌剂和化肥来保持生产力。虽然现代农业的出现在养活人们方面取得了巨大成功，但它也成为全球生物多样性丧失、有机污染和水质退化的主要原因。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。是否有可能找到生物多样性和生物燃料生产的“双赢”方案？我们能否在开发可持续生物燃料的同时，避免意外的环境影响，并保护作为所有可再生资源最终来源的生物多样性？由密歇根大学的Bradley Cardinale教授、Phillip Savage教授、Nina Lin教授和加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的Todd Oakley教授组成的跨学科生态学家和工程师团队相信这是可能的。在这个由美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）通过其新兴前沿研究与创新计划（Emerging Frontiers In Research and Innovation initiative）授予的项目中，该团队打算测试这样一个假设，即某些自然多样性的藻类群体具有互补的特性，这些特性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所能达到的。这一假设源于大量的生态研究，这些研究表明，只要物种专门利用营养物质或光线，或以不同的方式对环境波动作出反应，不同的群落将(a)更有效地捕获可用资源，(b)产生的生物量甚至比最具生产力的单一物种还要多，(c)随着时间的推移更稳定地保持产量。这项工作的最终目标是确定最具生产力和可持续的多物种藻类生物燃料系统，然后，从长远来看，将这些系统扩展到商业上可行的生物精炼厂。该项目的关键成果之一将是生成一个新的基因组数据库，该数据库将识别与生物原油生产有关的代谢途径编码的基因。这个数据库不仅有助于识别导致生物燃料生产的遗传密码，还将使那些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能够获得这些密码。调查小组与密歇根大学的工程多样性和推广中心以及美国生态学会的SEEDS推广服务等现有项目合作，以帮助选择学生人员。利用这些项目将促进少数群体参与科学，将研究人员与寻求研究机会的种族和经济上处于不利地位的少数群体联系起来。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众教育。莱斯利科学与自然中心是密歇根州的一家非营利机构，每年为2.5万名游客提供环境教育和体验，其中大部分是幼儿园到高中的学生。一个亲身实践的科学展览将被开发出来，向公众讲授藻类衍生的可持续生物油的好处，而“公民科学家”夏令营将被用来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.