BioValue newsletter
A PhD from DTU at NREL.
As a part of my PhD I decided to apply for an external stay period of 6 months. The reasons for an
external stay as part of a PhD are to enhance the research scope of my PhD, experience a different
research environment, learn ways for working science and discuss central PhD topics with globally
acknowledged experts. Issues on which I hope to get input from during my external stay are mainly the
big biorefining questions such as the future of biorefineries and opportunities in the biobased economy,
with focus on the environmental problems that such sector could face.
From the initial planning of external it was my priority to choose a high level research center, and thanks
to the BioValue network I managed to organize a 6 months research stay at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratories (NREL) in Golden CO, USA.
During my 6 months at NREL I will work with the biochemistry team lead by Gregg Beckham and
TEA/LCA group, working on sustainability assessment of different chemical building blocks made from
lignin, applying the LCA methodology and trying to provide a broader set of environmental indicators
than what was done previously at NREL.
Lignin utilization is (as most readers of the newsletter already know) a hot topic in the biorefinery world.
Biofuel production from lignocellulosic feedstocks will yield a vast amount of lignin which currently is
under-/unutilized. However, in the perspective of improving the profitability and sustainability of second
generation biorefineries it is important to find alternative pathways for the utilization of such waste
streams thereby maximizing the biomass utilization producing a wider spectrum of products, not only
biofuels.
The NREL team has developed a technology to biologically funnel depolymerized lignin to a single
intermediate, muconic acid. From the muconic acid intermediate, relying on a simple catalytic reaction it
is possible to produce different chemical building blocks such as: adipic acid, terephtalic acid, and ester
resins. Such products have a huge market which guarantees the marketability of these production
pathways, especially in the long term perspective where high quantity of lignin from biorefineries will be
available.
Providing the technical and economic feasibility of this lignin conversion pathway, NREL has the interest
on looking at the potential environmental impacts to broaden the set of indicators for the decision
makers in order to provide high value decision support.
This interest in integrating sustainability assessment and decision making processes demonstrate a
desire for a paradigm change, more controlled by environmental policies and more awareness about the
environmental challenges we are facing nowadays.
In this perspective EU and Danish companies, as well as research institutes, are ahead since
sustainability assessments have been performed for many years in Denmark by now. However, it is
important disseminate this type of analysis in order to strengthen the application of such tool on global
level, especially on providing relevant and useful indicators for decision makers and policy developers.
My stay with NREL will provide valuable input to my PhD and give me a broader perspective on the
biobased world, which will be beneficial not only me but also for the BioValue project.
Possible figure to include
Taken from: Beckham, G.T., Johnson, C.W., Karp, E.M., Salvachua, D., Vardon, D.R., 2016.
Opportunities and challenges in biological lignin valorization. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 42,
40–53. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.02.030
Taken from: Linger, J.G., Vardon, D.R., Guarnieri, M.T., Karp, E.M., Hunsinger, G.B., Franden,
M. a., Johnson, C.W., Chupka, G., Strathmann, T.J., Pienkos, P.T., Beckham, G.T., 2014.
Lignin valorization through integrated biological funneling and chemical catalysis. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. 111, 12013–12018. doi:10.1073/pnas.1410657111