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NREL Press Release:

NREL Researchers Use Imaging Technologies to Solve Puzzle of Plant Architecture

Breakthrough could help optimize capture of sugars for biofuels

Monday, November 26, 2012

 

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) combined different microscopic imaging methods to gain a greater understanding of the relationships between biomass cell wall structure and enzyme digestibility, a breakthrough that could lead to optimizing sugar yields and lowering the costs of making biofuels.

 

A paper on the breakthrough, "How Does Plant Cell Wall Nanoscale Architecture Correlate with Enzymatic Digestibility?" appears in the current issue of Science Magazine.   

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6110/1055.full

 

Principal Investigator Dr. Shi-You Ding of NREL said the imaging technologies allowed the interdisciplinary team of scientists to view the plants' architecture at scales ranging from millimeter to nanometer, a range of 1 million to one.

 

That allowed them to learn not just the plant cell wall architecture, but also the localization of the enzymes responsible for deconstruction of the cell wall polymers and the effects of enzyme action on the cell wall.

 

They didn't have to resort to wet chemistry, which ascertains the molecular makeup of a substance at the cost of destroying the spatial relationships. "The typical way to understand the structure of biomass is to break down all the individual components so they can be analyzed," Ding, a biologist, said. "The problem with that method is that then you don't know where all the components came from. You lose the structural integrity."

 

That's a crucial loss, because an understanding of how enzymes digest plants requires an understanding of where everything is inside the cell walls.

 

"Our imaging techniques gave us a deeper understanding of the cell wall structure and the process of enzyme hydrolysis of cell-wall carbohydrate polymers to release simple sugars," Ding said. "That allows us to optimize the process and reduce costs."

 

Dr. Paul Gilna, the director of the BESC, in which the project was conducted, added: "This work greatly improves our ability to closely examine the mechanisms behind the scientific improvements we have developed, all of which are targeted at enabling the emergence of a sustainable cellulosic biofuels industry." BESC is a multi-institutional Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy Office of Science.

 

The correlative imaging in real time allowed the team to assess the impact of lignin removal on biomass hydrolysis and to see the nanometer-scale changes in cell wall structure. And, that allowed them to see how those changes affected the rate at which enzymes from two different organisms digested the plant cell walls.

 

The aim in the biofuel industry is to access the plants' polymeric carbohydrate structures without damaging the basic molecules of which the polymers are constructed. "It's more like dis-assembling a building with wrenches, hammers and crowbars to recover re-useable bricks, wiring, pipes and structural steel than it is like using a wrecking ball or explosives," Gilna said. Enzymes, unlike typical harsh chemical catalysts, excel at this relatively gentle disassembly.

 

The NREL team examined two enzyme systems – one from a fungus, the other from a bacterium – both holding promise as biocatalysts for producing sugar intermediates for the biofuels industry.

 

The particular bacterial enzymes studied are organized through a large scaffolding protein into a multi-enzyme complex from which they make a coordinated attack on the cell walls. The separate fungal enzymes act more individualistically, although the ultimate result is cooperative in that case, as well.

 

The NREL team found that the easier the access to the cell walls, the better and faster the enzymes will digest the material.

 

In biofuels production, enzymes are needed to greatly speed up the chemical reactions that break down the biomass during fermentation.

 

The NREL scientists found that the gummy, poly-aromatic non-sugar lignin in plants interferes with enzymes' ability to access the polysaccharides in the cell wall – the stuff that both the enzymes and the industry want.   

 

So, they concluded, ideal pre-treatment should focus on getting rid of the lignin while leaving the structural polysaccharides within the cell walls intact, thus leaving a relatively loose, porous native-like structure that allows easy access by the enzymes and rapid digestion, as opposed to pretreatments that remove some of the spongier carbohydrate polymers and allow the remainder to collapse into tighter and less-accessible structures. To continue the building dis-assembly and salvage analogy, removal of the lignin is like unlocking all of the doors in the building so that the workers can get in to pull out re-useable materials, but without collapsing the overall structure so that access is blocked. 

 

By understanding the changing structure of the plant material, scientists can learn more about how enzymes work.

 

"The enzyme has evolved to deal with the real structure, not the pretreated, artificially decomposed one," Ding said. "So to understand how the enzyme goes about its business, it is really important to know where cell wall components are located, as well as the various modes of enzyme action."

 

"Then we can optimize the whole process," Ding said. "By observing where cellulase enzymes are localized and the nanostructural changes in the plant cell wall architecture that their actions produce, we hope to suggest rational strategies for more cost effective pretreatments and better enzymes." 

 

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. 

 

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Britain Revives Regulation in a Push for Renewable Energy

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, November 24, 2012

Britain Revives Regulation in a Push for Renewable Energy

By STANLEY REED

LONDON — The British government announced on Friday far-reaching changes in energy regulation intended to encourage development of renewable energy and nuclear power while ensuring that the country can still meet its electricity needs.

The changes will gradually quadruple the charges levied on consumers and businesses to help support electricity generation from low-carbon sources, to a total of about £9.8 billion, or $15.7 billion, in the 2020-21 fiscal year, from £2.35 billion now.

The government forecasts that the new price supports will add 7 percent, or about £95 a year, to the average household electricity bill. Such charges add 2 percent to energy bills, or £20 a year.

The effort shows that Britain, despite an ailing economy, is sticking to the ambitious goals for renewable energy and emissions reductions set in 2008 under the Labour government of Gordon Brown.

Britain is also shifting its approach toward energy. In the 1990s, Britain led Europe in deregulation of its energy markets. Now it is returning to a system of greater market intervention to fulfill what the government considers to be an imperative to reduce greenhouse gases.

Electricity generated from cleaner sources like nuclear and offshore wind is much more expensive than power generated by coal- or gas-fired plants. Companies will invest in clean energy only if given substantial incentives. The government hopes to attract £110 billion in energy investment through 2020.

The proposed regulatory changes will be incorporated in an energy bill that is to be approved next year, with the new rules phased in starting in 2014.

“In the 1990s there was a real move to make the U.K. power market a kind of liberalized, supply-demand, price-driven market,” said Howard V. Rogers, director of the gas program at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, a research group. “As soon as you introduce subsidies for wind, you undermine that principle.”

The proposed changes come after months of debate within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. The Liberal Democrats favor tough goals to reduce emissions. The Conservatives, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, lean more toward promoting the use of natural gas. They also worry that wind farms will spoil the countryside, where many Conservative voters reside.

The government proposal “will allow us to meet our legally binding carbon reduction and renewable energy obligations and bring on the investment required to keep the lights on and bills affordable for consumers,” Edward Davey, the energy and climate change secretary, said in a statement.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

On the other hand, the Chinese solar industry has experienced cutbacks, according to the New York Times,  because Chinese solar panels have flooded the market.

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

November 21, 2012

New Report Charts Dynamic, Steady Growth of the U.S. Solar Jobs Market

A new report released on November 16 by the Solar Foundation tracks the steady growth of America's solar jobs market over the past 12 months. Now in its third iteration, the 2012 National Solar Jobs Census finds that the solar industry is one of the fastest growing job markets in the country—employing more than 119,000 skilled solar workers and growing at an annual rate of 13.2%.

Energy Department-supported research and development (R&D) remains one of the most important factors driving the steady expansion of the U.S. solar jobs sector. In the latest round of SunShot Incubator projects on November 16, the Department will invest in 10 innovative small businesses to accelerate the transfer of solar energy technology from the lab to the marketplace. These projects aim to significantly reduce the cost of solar energy systems for American homes and businesses—creating new jobs and market opportunities in the process.

As a result of consistent federal policy, the Administration's sustained commitment to R&D, and the significant decline in prices for solar energy products, the Solar Foundation projects continued robust growth for the solar jobs market over the coming year. For the complete story, see the Energy Blog.

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

November 21, 2012

Gobble Up Fuel Savings on Your Next Road Trip with My Trip Calculator

Thanksgiving brings to mind images of roasted turkey, hours in front of the TV watching football, and parades with huge inflated balloons. But for many, Thanksgiving also means braving airports and roadways to visit family and friends.

This year, AAA forecasts 43.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend—making it one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. More than 90% of holiday travelers this year will be packing up the car and cruising on the highway. If you are one of the millions of people hitting the open road for the long holiday weekend—or any time of year for that matter—be sure to check out fueleconomy.gov's newest tool to save time and money on your trip.

A one-stop shop for any road trip, My Trip Calculator is an interactive tool that helps you plan your route, pick your car, and estimate your fuel costs. To get started with the trip calculator, enter your start and final destinations for turn-by-turn directions, a trip map, and estimated driving time. If you were hoping to take a more scenic route, just drag and drop additional pinpoints on the map to modify your directions. For the complete story, see the Energy Blog.

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

November 21, 2012

Wind Farms Sharing Weather Data with NOAA

Two of the nation's largest producers of wind-generated electric power will share privately-collected weather data with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), providing agency scientists with additional observations from wind farms across the nation for research and operations. NOAA now has data sharing agreements with Iberdrola Renewables of Portland, Oregon, and NextEra Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Florida. These are the country's two largest producers of wind-generated electric power, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

The companies will provide valuable weather observations from instrumented towers in their wind farms and wind speed data from instruments atop wind turbines. While the observations are business-sensitive and will not be redistributed outside of NOAA, the agency's scientists will use the data to validate and improve weather models at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction. See the NOAA press release.

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

November 21, 2012

Energy Department Updates National Solar Thermal Test Facility

The molten salt test loop is the only test facility in the country that can provide real power plant conditions and collect data about the interactions of pressure, temperature, and flow rates. Credit: Randy Montoya, Sandia

The Energy Department's National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF), operated by the Department's Sandia National Laboratories, was recently overhauled. The $17.8 million upgrade to the NSTTF added state-of-the-art test capabilities. The resulting research conducted at the facility is expected to lead to more solar power use on the electric grid.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded the nine-part project consisting of new additions and upgrades to the test center, much of which had not been updated since it was built in 1976. The improvements include adding a new $10 million molten salt test loop, an optical methods laboratory and other critical testing capabilities, and upgrading the parabolic trough test platform. It also included a $3.8 million investment to replace the 218 original heliostat mirrors aimed at the Solar Tower, a key improvement because glass and reflective technology have change significantly in the past three decades.

The facility uses concentrating solar power (CSP), which employs mirrors to focus the sun's heat onto a receiver. The receiver captures thermal energy that can either generate electricity immediately or store it for later use. CSP receivers increasingly use molten salt to store heat generated by the sun because it is cheap and stores thermal energy for long periods, which provides greater flexibility for the electric grid. See the Sandia National Laboratories' press release.