Insects’ gut microbes hint at biofuel breakthrough

Deep inside insects’ guts may lie the key to one of the biofuel industry’s great challenges: how to cost-effectively turn tough plant waste into profit-making fuel.

About 50 million tonnes of lignin are produced every year worldwide, mostly as waste after the sugar, or cellulose, in a plant has been converted into ethanol.

…Full text: www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/biofuels/news/insects-gut-microbes-hint-at-biofuel-breakthrough-.html

Tags: herbivorous insects, plant materials, termites, cutworm caterpillars, harbour enzymes, lignin, biodiversity, cost-effective way

Source

SciDev.Net, 2013-01-25.

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Texas A&M University
Tsinghua University
University of Tennessee
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
US Department of Energy (DoE)

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