New bioproduction systems for chemicals and fuels: Needs and new development

Abstract

Currently used bioproduction systems for chemicals and fuels are primarily based on sugar-containing substrates. They have inherent limitations regarding substrate sustainability and affordability, product spectrum and yield, and costs for up- and downstream processing. To overcome some of these major burdens new bioproduction strategies and systems are being developed, including biorefinery, electro-biotechnology (use of electricity for biosynthesis) and C1 bioeconomy using synthetic biological systems based on C1 carbon feedstocks such as CO, CO₂, methane, methanol and formic acid. In this article, the promises, development trends and challenges of these new bioproduction systems and concepts are briefly summarized and discussed.

Keywords: 1,3-propanediol; Bioproduction; Biorefinery; C1 bioeconomy; CO(2); Electro-biotechnology; Feedstock; Formic acid; Synthetic biology.