title: Bio-based products from solar energy and carbon dioxide.
abstract: Producing bio-based products directly from CO₂ and solar energy is a desirable alternative to the conventional biorefining that relies on biomass feedstocks. The production paradigm is based on an artificial photosynthetic system that converts sunlight to electricity and H₂ via water electrolysis. An autotrophic H₂-oxidizing bacterium fixes CO₂ in dark conditions. The assimilated CO₂ is stored in bacterial cells as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), from which a range of products can be derived. Compared with natural photosynthesis of a fast-growing cyanobacterium, the artificial photosynthetic system has much higher energy efficiency and productivity of bio-based products. The new technology looks promising because of possible cost reduction in feedstock, equipment, and operation.
authors: Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1680 East-West Road POST 104, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Electronic address: jianyu@hawaii.edu.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Yu
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D018533:Biomass; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010788:Photosynthesis; D012993:Solar Energy; D058615:Synthetic Biology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: CO(2) fixation; H(2)-oxidizing bacterium; bio-based products; photosynthesis; polyhydroxybutyrate; solar energy