Bio-upgrading of syngas into hydrogen or methane

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This research effort is to contribute at building a value chain from lower quality biomass towards bio-based energy production, namely methane- or hydrogen-enriched bio/syngas at high yield, accordingly, at turning environmental liabilities into economical opportunities. Biomass targeted as feedstock includes abundant and largely untapped sources such as : municipal solid wastes, municipal & pulp and paper biosolids, forestry and agriculture residues (straw, dead wood ...), perennial giant grass (switchgrass, miscanthus ...). When biomass is relatively dry and/or difficultly biodegradable, one possibility is to gasify the biomass and to use the synthetic gas (syngas) produced as a feedstock for gaseous fermentation. Syngas is mainly composed of carbon monoxide (CO), CO2 and hydrogen. A small number of microbes, often thermophilic, are able to grow on CO and H2 and reduce either CO into CH4, or protons into H2. Hence we plan to develop bioprocesses using those carboxydotrophic microorganisms, to upgrade syngas into H2 or CH4.