Organisms for photobiological butanol production from carbon dioxide and water
US10519471B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 3, 2017 |
| Grant date | Dec 31, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 3, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P60/20
- WIPO fieldBiotechnology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The present invention provides a biosafety-guarded photobiological butanol production technology based on designer transgenic plants, designer algae, designer blue-green algae (cyanobacteria and oxychlorobacteria), or designer plant cells. The designer photosynthetic organisms are created such that the endogenous photobiological regulation mechanism is tamed, and the reducing power (NADPH) and energy (ATP) acquired from the photosynthetic process are used for synthesis of butanol (CH3CH2CH2CH2OH) directly from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). The butanol production methods of the present invention completely eliminate the problem of recalcitrant lignocellulosics by bypassing the bottleneck problem of the biomass technology. The photobiological butanol-production technology of the present invention is expected to have a much higher solar-to-butanol energy-conversion efficiency than the current technology and could also help protect the Earth's environment from the dangerous accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.