Bacterial Process Converts Recycled Newspapers to Biofuel

Biologists at Tulane University in New Orleans have found a bacterial strain that produces bio-based butanol directly from cellulose in plants and plant byproducts, including old newspapers. The strain of bacteria, called TU-103, is being tested in the lab of Tulane molecular biologist David Mullin, and a patent is pending on the process.

Mullin’s lab first identified TU-103 in animal droppings, and where it was cultivated and developed into a method for producing butanol. He says TU-103 is a clostridial bacterial strain that can grow and produce butanol in the presence of oxygen. Other butanol-producing bacteria cannot survive in oxygen, and thus TU-103 has more practical and economic advantages.

As a biofuel, butanol is superior to ethanol, commonly produced from corn or sugar cane, because it can be used in existing motor vehicles without any modifications to the engine. Butanol can also be transported through existing fuel pipelines, is less corrosive, and contains more energy than ethanol, which would improve mileage.

TU-103 is being tested with agricultural waste products and old newspapers, specifically copies of the New Orleans daily Times Picayune, with which Mullin and his colleagues claim great success.

Read more:

• Bacteria Metabolism Reversed to Produce High-Speed Biofuel
• E. Coli Engineered to Produce High-Volume Biofuel

Photo: ShironekoEuro/Flickr

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