The British Bioalcohols group aims to exploit agri-food-chain biomass such as wheat or oilseed rape straw for the production of second generation bioalcohols. Using waste or co-product materials will maximise bioalcohol production whilst minimising competition with the food industry. It provides research in support of the new low carbon fuel industry and seeks to help make the UK a leader in low-carbon transport.
People
The British Bioalcohols group is a multidisciplinary collaboration between Norwich Research Park scientists from the University of East Anglia, Institute of Food Research and John Innes Centre. The group works closely with the Norwich Research Park based company Renewables East which is largely funded by the Regional Development Agency to foster commercial development of low-carbon technologies.
The group has experts in the enzyme and microbial technologies, biochemistry, fermentation, bio-materials, plant genomics & breeding, biofuel technologies and life cycle analysis required for second generation biofuel development.
Context – Global Warming
It is widely accepted that global warming is linked to huge increases in greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity. Much of the fundamental research leading to our understanding of climate change has been carried out by scientists in the School of Environmental Sciences at UEA. The consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is that social and economic impacts of climate change will be significant over the next 50 years as will the effects on landscape, ecology and agriculture.
The emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from vehicle use are climbing incessantly because fossil hydrocarbons are used as fuel. Over 25% of the UK’s emissions of GHGs are from transportation. Alternative, carbon neutral, sources of liquid fuels are being sought. Bio-derived fuels are a good option since carbon dioxide released by the vehicle was fixed from the atmosphere by crops only the previous year and will be re-fixed by biofuel crops grown the next.