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Since the beginning of time, plants have removed CO2 from the atmosphere and converted it into
biomass. What we're trying to do is use that same process to create molecules that are
more useful for humans. ARPA-E's approach to biofuels is really looking at using all
of the tools in the toolbox. In the PETRO program, we have ten awardees that are currently
pursuing different approaches to this goal of generating high-energy molecules directly
in plants. Harnessing the natural ability of pine trees to make terpenes, which is the
dominant source of terpenes for industrial use today and we're trying to advance there
through genetics and genetic engineering to produce a lot more terpene to make it commercially
viable for biofuels. Terpenes are a natural compound that's close to a fuel molecule and,
at the end of the day, when the plant makes it, the capital cost to go to scale is much
much less. So, working with the JBEI team, Jim Kirby in particular, he's moved forward
with with their metabolic engineering, first in E. coli as well as in yeast, to improve
enzyme activities and target specific ones. We've tested them and taken the best candidates
and put them into pine. The preliminary results indicate that the knowledge they've gained
from E. coli, in particular, is translating directly to pine. So, I think the advantage
of the PETRO program is that it's very targeted towards a specific goal. It's a discrete project.
You know, you've got a three or four year timeline, and they have very specific goals
they want everybody to reach within that timeline. There's collaboration going on between the
projects, and the program manager, Jonathan, is kind of overseeing everything, putting
everyone together, sharing technology if it seems like one group could benefit from sharing
another person's technology. So, in the case of these particular genes that we're talking
about, we're putting them into pine and, as you can imagine, pine takes a long time to
grow. So we've passed them on to Christer Jansson's group at LBNL, working with Peggy
Lemaux, and they've been able to test these genes in tobacco, and that's an advantage
for both groups because, number one, they get to test to the genes, and number two,
we get to see a faster result. So they can put them in tobacco and measure the biofuel
output much more quickly than we can do in pine. Sharing the genes and sharing the technology,
it gives the overall PETRO program a better chance of success. Tobacco is really an ideal
crop, but it's not just a one time harvest. They can come in and harvest four or five
times in a season, so it's a continuous source of biomass to make biofuels. One of the things
that ARPA-E does is give people the opportunity to do things that are a little risky. We have
very ambitious goals, and if we accomplish those goals, we believe we'll be competitive.
It's really high risk, but if it works, it's a high reward, and they have a built community
that allows you to do that, and a program that allows you to do that. If it's successful,
I think that we will be the leader in renewable chemicals and biofuels. We want to try to
minimize the amount of pollution that's part of the existing petrochemical process. The
success really is creating a technology that's economically viable and sustainable. If you
imagine that we never have to drill another oil well, that we're growing all the fuel
that we need, you have to imagine that that's going to be a tremendous benefit to society
overall.