2009 Climate Leadership Challenge
Grand Prize Winner: Increasing the Efficiency of Cellulosic Biofuels Using Genetically Engineered Microbes

The Project
To mitigate the problem of global warming and the concurrent production of greenhouse gasses, we propose a process using genetically engineered microbes to increase the efficiency of current biofuel synthesis methods. We examine the use of lignin peroxidases in the pretreatment of biomass to increase access to cellulose by accelerating lignin degradation. This will drastically reduce the need for energy intensive and chemically exhaustive processes typically required in the pretreatment of biomass.  In conjunction with this approach, we seek to maximize the metabolic production of sorbitol as a byproduct of glycolysis, which can be catalytically reduced to create biofuel precursors, including hexane. Our method focuses on minimizing the amount of waste produced during the biofuel synthesis process by turning typical byproducts of biofuel synthesis into fuel.  In addition, the process required to separate our biofuel from water can be less energy intensive than separating ethanol from water because of the decreased miscibility of water with saturated hydrocarbons.  The distribution of the aforementioned technology would occur at regional levels, which will reduce transportation costs as well as the release of greenhouse gasses normally associated with the transportation of fossil fuels. In addition, the technology and associated processes of biofuel production have the potential to be carbon neutral, yet provide a financially feasible alternative to the use of fossil fuels as fuel costs increase and public pressure to pursue greener options for energy production gains momentum.

Team Members
Benjamin Cox, Jack Ho, Sean McMaster, Peter Vander Velden; Significant Contributors: Charlie Burns, Andy Braasch
Download the Team Bios with Photos

How the CLC Inspired Us
Writing and winning the Climate Leadership Challenge (CLC) helped us as a team to continue our scientific pursuits that were first started with help from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) and other generous donors.  We began the project as part of the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition over the summer.  On a personal level, winning the CLC reaffirmed our belief that our project was truly innovative, has tremendous potential to future biofuel projects, and can have a future beyond the iGEM competition.  We hope that winning the CLC will help give our project exposure to the people and resources needed to continue our work. Our project helps the university as a whole.  For one, it provides increased publicity for the iGEM team, hopefully inspiring other undergraduates to take on the challenge of summer research to create and elaborate on novel ideas.  Overall, this can lead to new discoveries and heightened respect for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  This opportunity was particularly special in that not all undergraduates have a chance to work independently on a project found on the forefront of the sciences, however, hopefully this will encourage undergraduates to get out there and look for these opportunities to use their creativity.

Download a Poster of the Project
Read the Badger Herald press coverage

Contact Information
Sean McMaster
Andy Braasch

Our Advisors
Dr. Doug Weibel
Dr. Brian Pfleger
Dr. Jenny Reed