CYANOBACTERIAL BIOCONVERSION OF CARBON-DIOXIDE FOR FUEL PRODUCTIONS

Laboratory-scale systems for bioconversion of CO2 to biofuels, H-2 and ethanol, have been developed in an attempt to present data for baseli ne evaluation of a resource recycling technology utilizing biomass of cyanobacteria. The procedure employs cultivation in the light of photo lithotroph Synechococcus leopoliensis, onset, by shift into anaerobic dark, of hydrogenase-mediated H-2 formation reaction, and conversion o f biomass waste into ethanol. Cyclic turnover of carbon by harnessing photosynthesis was successfully demonstrated by the experiment, but th e research for a large-scale fuel production is still in its prelimina ry stage. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.