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 veggie
Registered: 07/26/04
Posts: 14,144
Loc: 
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 Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature 
#7315710 - 08/20/07 11:22 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature
August 20, 2007 - Wired Science
 Scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology have found a much better way to make biodiesel. Their new method could lower the cost and increase the energy efficiency of fuel production.
Instead of mixing the ingredients and heating them for hours, the chemical engineers pass sunflower oil and methanol through a bed of pellets made from fungal spores. An enzyme produced by the fungus does the work -- making biodiesel with impressive efficiency.
Last Monday, Ravichandra Potumarthi showed off his work during a poster session last Monday at the International Conference on Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. After returning to his lab in Hyderabad, he was able to send out some pictures of his experimental reactor (shown on right) and the fungal pellets.
Typically, biodiesel is made by mixing methanol with lye and vegetable oil and then heating the brew for several hours. This links the methanol to the oils to produce energetic called esters. Unfortunately, heating the mixture is a huge waste of energy, and a major selling point of alternative fuels is efficiency. An enzyme called lipase can link link oil to methanol without any extra heating, but the pure protein is expensive.
Potumarthi has a simple solution. Why bother purifying the lipase? It would be easier to just find an organism that produces plenty of the enzyme and squish it into pellets. In this case, the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae does the trick.
Recently, several huge research centers have sprung up to develop better ways to make biofuels. Considering that a handful of chemical engineers can accomplish so much on what appears to be a shoestring budget, the future of alternative fuels looks pretty good -- but maybe a bit slimy.
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 abesh
Warrior SixDelta
Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 321
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Re: Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature [Re: veggie]
#7315780 - 08/20/07 11:37 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Go India
Thankyou Come Again 
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ralphroks
humaniform
Registered: 03/25/07
Posts: 553
Loc: Up north passed Alaska
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Re: Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature [Re: abesh]
#7316210 - 08/21/07 01:50 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
This first bag will be fruited normally, and the fruits enjoyed as food. However, the second bag will be part of an experiment. The glycerol byproducts from biodiesel production are technically fermentable by fungus. However, what concentration will they accept, and will the methanol or catalyst be a problem for the fungus? I’ll be ‘feeding’ the mycelium some byproduct soon to see how it reacts. I may or may not eat those mushrooms.http://flexistentialist.org/blog/archives/2005/02/09/fungus-amongus/
The above article is about a guy trying to feed oyster mushrooms
the glycerol byproduct from his biodiesel.
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"Please read and learn and relay knowledge not misinformation! Thank you"-hyphae
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gmuralid
Holy Cow
Registered: 08/05/07
Posts: 405
Loc: India
Last seen: 4 years, 4 months
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Re: Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature [Re: ralphroks]
#7317436 - 08/21/07 01:02 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Holy cow!!! Man, I gotta get in touch with this guy!!
Crazy shit, and its all happening near me....I should get involved with this.
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Wilderness. It defines me.
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klassasin
La vida es buena! Disfrutala!
Registered: 10/05/06
Posts: 55
Loc: Midwest. USA
Last seen: 8 days, 19 hours
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Re: Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature [Re: gmuralid]
#7317796 - 08/21/07 02:46 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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This really hits home considering I just got back from a 3-day conference about biodiesel and other alternative forms of energy. Interesting!
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Visionary Tools
Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,901
Last seen: 3 years, 8 months
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Re: Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature [Re: klassasin]
#7317907 - 08/21/07 03:25 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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That guy deserves a chillum full of the best.
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Wiccan_Seeker said:
slide down a pole than with your legs spread and using your pussy as a brake. Ask the fire department 
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