Biofuels made from electrochemical energy may have several practical advantages as compared to traditional photosynthetic pathways.  The critical challenge in this approach is the electrochemical/biological interface.  We have been exploring the use of chemolithoautotrophic bacteria that are able to grow on easily reducible substrates.  We have been developing a process using the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria Nitrosomonas europaea. Here we present a new electrofuels platform using Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans which oxidizes ferrous iron to ferric.  The iron is easily reduced electrochemically which allows for biomass production from electricity and air.  Initial findings demonstrate that A. ferrooxidans is a tractable microorganism with a robust metabolism doubling once every 14 hours. Growth rates in electrochemically reduced iron media are indistinguishable from rates in fresh media prepared.  We are currently engineering the cells to produce isobutanol, a drop-in advanced biofuel.   Reverse microbial fuel cells made with A. ferrooxidans will be a valuable platform for electrobiosynthesis.

Electrofuel production using chemolithoautotrophic iron oxidizing bacteria in a reverse microbial fuel cell

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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