Gray Kevin A, Zhao Lishan, Emptage Mark
Diversa Corporation, 4955 Directors Place, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2006 Apr;10(2):141-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2006.02.035. Epub 2006 Mar 7.
Alternatives to petroleum-derived fuels are being sought in order to reduce the world's dependence on non-renewable resources. The most common renewable fuel today is ethanol derived from corn grain (starch) and sugar cane (sucrose). It is expected that there will be limits to the supply of these raw materials in the near future, therefore lignocellulosic biomass is seen as an attractive feedstock for future supplies of ethanol. However, there are technical and economical impediments to the development of a commercial processes utilizing biomass. Technologies are being developed that will allow cost-effective conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. These technologies include low-cost thermochemical pretreatment, highly effective cellulases and hemicellulases and efficient and robust fermentative microorganisms. Many advances have been made over the past few years that make commercialization more promising.
人们正在寻找石油衍生燃料的替代品，以减少世界对不可再生资源的依赖。当今最常见的可再生燃料是由玉米谷物（淀粉）和甘蔗（蔗糖）制成的乙醇。预计在不久的将来，这些原材料的供应将受到限制，因此木质纤维素生物质被视为未来乙醇供应的有吸引力的原料。然而，利用生物质开发商业工艺存在技术和经济障碍。正在开发能够将生物质经济高效地转化为燃料和化学品的技术。这些技术包括低成本的热化学预处理、高效的纤维素酶和半纤维素酶以及高效且稳健的发酵微生物。在过去几年中已经取得了许多进展，这使得商业化更具前景。
