Catch bacteria that provide fuel for cars

US scientists have found a way to produce biofuels for cars and motor vehicles with a normal bacterium in the soil.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US has a project to study the method of producing fuel from bacteria. The goal of the project is to create 10 times more efficient fuel than current biofuels. Researchers swapped genes of R. eutropha so that it could produce isobutanol - an alcohol that could be replaced or mixed with gasoline for transportation, Innovation News Daily reported.

Bacteria R. eutropha

"We have shown that humans can produce a lot of isobutanol in the future," said Christopher Brigham, an MIT biologist.

Many scientists have studied bacteria that make biofuels in their bodies. However, they must destroy the bacteria to get fuel. The MIT team does not kill bacteria, because they have found a way for bacteria to release fuel from their bodies.

The bacteria in nature store carbon by making carbon polymers - compounds like plastics made from oil. Brigham and colleagues removed many genes from R. eutropha, and added some genes to synthesize isobutanol instead of carbon polymer.

The team hopes the bacterium R. eutropha can convert carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) into fuel. This is one of the ways to utilize the greenhouse gas CO ₂ to produce fuel and reduce the rate of global warming. In addition, the team considered the possibility of utilizing carbon from other sources, such as agricultural waste and urban waste.