Waste gas makes liquid fuel

Waste gases containing carbon dioxide can be converted into diesel, thanks to a bacterium and an engineered yeast.

Gregory Stephanopoulos and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge developed a two-stage process that uses bioreactors to create liquid fuel out of gas mixtures containing CO₂. The first stage involves the bacterium Moorella thermoacetica, which converts mixtures of CO₂ and other gases such as carbon monoxide or hydrogen into acetic acid. An engineered yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica, then transforms the acetic acid into an oil that can be turned into diesel using existing industrial processes.

This method, with further enhancements to boost efficiency, could be used to produce fuel from the waste gases that are generated by industrial sites such as steel mills and coal-fired power plants, the authors say.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://doi.org/bdb5 (2016)