Engineering Biocatalytic Solar Fuel Production: The PHOTOFUEL Consortium

Julian Wichmann; Kyle J Lauersen; Natascia Biondi; Magnus Christensen; Tiago Guerra; Klaus Hellgardt; Simon Kühner; Markku Kuronen; Pia Lindberg; Christine Rösch; Ian S Yunus; Patrik Jones; Peter Lindblad; Olaf Kruse

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.01.003

Engineering Biocatalytic Solar Fuel Production: The PHOTOFUEL Consortium

Trends Biotechnol. 2021 Apr;39(4):323-327. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.01.003. Epub 2021 Feb 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Bielefeld University, Faculty of Biology, Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Universitätsstrasse 27, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany.
² University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment, and Forestry (DAGRI), Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Florence, Italy.
³ Volvo Group Trucks Technology, Sven Hultins gata 9A, 412 88 Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁴ A4F, Algae For Future, Campus do Lumiar, Estrada do Paço do Lumiar Ed E R/C, 1649-038 Lisboa, Portugal.
⁵ Imperial College London, Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington, SW7 2AZ London, UK.
⁶ SYNCOM RTD Consulting, Am Steinacker 16, 27777 Ganderkesee, Germany.
⁷ Neste Corporation, Keilaranta 21, 02150 Espoo, Finland.
⁸ Uppsala University, Microbial Chemistry, Department of Chemistry-Ångström, Box 523, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.
⁹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlstr.11, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany.
¹⁰ Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences, SW7 2AZ London, UK.
¹¹ Bielefeld University, Faculty of Biology, Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Universitätsstrasse 27, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany. Electronic address: olaf.kruse@uni-bielefeld.de.

PMID: 33573847
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.01.003

Abstract

The EU Horizon2020 consortium PHOTOFUEL joined academic and industrial partners from biology, chemistry, engineering, engine design, and lifecycle assessment, making tremendous progress towards engine-ready fuels from CO₂ via engineered photosynthetic microbes. Technical, environmental, economic, and societal opportunities and challenges were explored to frame future technology realization at scale.

Keywords: engine tests; fuels; lifecycle assessment; photo-biomanufacturing; techno-economic analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biocatalysis
Bioengineering* / trends
Biofuels*
Photosynthesis
Sunlight*

Substances

Biofuels