Genetically Modified Bacteria for Fuel Production

Project: Research project

Project Details

Description

Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) is genetically engineering bacteria called Rhodobacter to use electricity or electrically generated hydrogen to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. In collaboration with the University of Kentucky, Penn State is taking genes from oil-producing algae called Botryococcus braunii and putting them into Rhodobacter to produce hydrocarbon molecules, which closely resemble gasoline. Penn State is developing engineered tanks to support microbial fuel production and determining the most economical way to feed the electricity or hydrogen to the bacteria, including using renewable sources of power like solar energy.

StatusFinished
Effective start/end date7/1/106/30/14

Funding

  • Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy: $1,602,863.00

Fingerprint

Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.