title: Mixed culture biotechnology for bioenergy production.
abstract: Mixed culture biotechnology (MCB) could become an attractive addition or alternative to traditional pure culture based biotechnology for the production of chemicals and/or bioenergy. On the basis of ecological selection principles, MCB-based processes can be established that generate a narrow product spectrum from a mixed substrate. Three example processes are briefly discussed in this paper: anaerobic digestion aimed at the production of methane-containing biogas, mixed culture fermentation for the production of solvents or biohydrogen, and a two-step process for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates. These examples give an idea of the potential contribution of mixed culture biotechnology to sustainable production of bioenergy from waste.
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands. r.kleerebezem@tudelft.nl
authors.forename: Robbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kleerebezem
authors.forename: Mark C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: van Loosdrecht
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001709:Biotechnology; D005285:Fermentation; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012997:Solvents / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012997:Solvents; D006859:Hydrogen