It's Alive! How Living Organisms are Helping Create a Renewable Energy Future

By Stephen Lacey, Podcast Editor
March 27, 2008 | 3 Comments

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New Hampshire, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] The energies we mostly rely on today were made possible by the death and fossilization of ancient organisms. Unfortunately, our continued reliance on those fossil energies will most certainly cause the future death of many others. So how are we going to change our habits and develop more renewable energy? Well, one way is to use living organisms such as plants, animals, bacteria and fungi to develop next-generation fuels and electricity. In this program, we'll talk with some researchers who are on the cutting-edge of this field.

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Firstly, Bruce Rittman, director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Arizona, will tell us about microbial fuel cells that use cultures of bacteria to break down wet biomass waste to create electricity.

Then, we’ll talk with Bill Baum, general manager of the Specialty Enzymes Business Unit of Verenium and Steve Hutcheson, President and CEO of Zymetis about the best places in nature to find enzymes for breaking down cellulose for ethanol production.

Finally, Brian Willson, chief technology officer for Solix Biofuels, describes how to grow algae for fuel. He’ll talk about the differences between open and closed production systems, how Solix’s biophotoreactor works, and when we can expect to see biofuels from algae on the market.

Inside Renewable Energy offers the latest in renewable energy news and information.

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Bioenergy, Hydrogen - Fuel Cells, Other

3 Reader Comments

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1 of 3

john-b-schroeder-77186

March 28, 2008

     Maybe Nature has the solutions for our problems right under our noses! Termites and carpenter ants can be our allies instead of our enemies.  We will need all the help we can get.  Wecome to the future, bugs!

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2 of 3

mary-saunders-73470

March 28, 2008

Carpenter ants can turn wood into sawdust, preparing it for a digester.  Getting bugs to work for us would do wonders for their PR and make our world safer from biocides, maybe.

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3 of 3

tom-ingram-5368

March 28, 2008

<p>Interesting podcast. I'd not listened to one from this group before. I was just nosing around this morning for something a bit different for me.</p><p>I found the 'termites' mentioned in the enzymes discussion to be a big 'hey, why didn't I think of that?' moment... seems like a real 'natural' source for the enzymes to break down cellulose... </p>

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Stephen Lacey

About: I am a reporter with ClimateProgress.org, a blog published by the Center for American Progress. I am former editor and producer for RenewableEnergyWorld.com, wh... more »