Sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from carbon dioxide

该项目旨在提供一种经济高效的生物电化学过程，将二氧化碳（CO2）排放转化为化学品和燃料。微生物是一种神奇的生物，为我们提供奶酪、啤酒和葡萄酒。一种特殊的细菌甚至能够从废物中产生电力，或者吃掉电力将二氧化碳排放转化为化学物质。这一过程有可能大大提高未来化学工业和环境生物技术的可持续性。研究表明，醋酸盐是化学工业中重要的前体，可以在实验室规模的反应器中使用选定的微生物群落生产。该项目的目标是设计一种能够以高速率和高产品浓度从二氧化碳中生产多种生物化学品和生物燃料的工艺。

This project intends to deliver a cost-effective efficient bioelectrochemical process converting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into chemicals and fuels. Microbes are fascinating organisms giving us cheese, beer and wine. A special group of bacteria is even able to produce electricity from waste materials, or eat electricity to convert CO2 emissions into chemicals. This process has the potential to dramatically improve the sustainability of future chemical industry and environmental biotechnology. It has been shown that acetate, an important precursor in the chemical industry, can be produced in laboratory-scale reactors using selected microbial communities. The goal of the project is to engineer a process able to produce a broad range of biochemicals and biofuels from CO2 at high rates and high product concentrations.