Difference between revisions of "Team:Aalto-Helsinki"

(lab, modeling and practices link smaller)
(trying to make the text changing when hovering over the images, doesn't work yet but I'm saving this so I can continue on this later)
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     <div style="max-width:100%;"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/e/ed/Aalto-Helsinki_tree.png" /></div>
 
     <div style="max-width:100%;"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/e/ed/Aalto-Helsinki_tree.png" /></div>
 
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     <div style="max-width:100%;"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/e/eb/Aalto-Helsinki_Restriction.png" /></div>
 
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     <div style="max-width:100%;"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/81/Aalto-Helsinki_arrow_production.png" /></div>
 
     <div style="max-width:100%;"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/81/Aalto-Helsinki_arrow_production.png" /></div>
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    <div style="max-width:100%;"><span id="nohovertext">Here is some text when not hovered over the images!</span>
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      <span id="treetext"><p>Climate change is argued to be one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind. The current climate change is mainly caused by us humans as we have been using the Earth’s precious fossil fuel stocks causing an abrupt increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. According to IPCC, even if we could stop all the emissions right now, the Earth’s average temperature would rise 0.6C. This means we must act now. To fight climate change we have taken advantage of an abundant and renewable Finnish resource: the trees. With the help of our forest industry, we will tackle the emissions made by the road transportation. These emissions make up a considerable 11% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>Imagine your car being fueled by waste cellulose and the carbon footprint of transported goods diminishing. What if we lived in a world without geopolitical pressure caused by the unbalanced localization of usable fuels?</span>
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      <span id="cellulosetext"><p>Cellulose is the main raw material collected from Finland’s forests. Additionally about 200 million tonnes of cellulose is wasted every year in the European Union alone.This cellulose could be collected and sustainably refined into a biofuel without interfering with food production or increasing agricultural land use.</p><p>We will integrate three cellulose hydrolysing enzymes into the genome of <i>Escherichia coli</i>. A secretion tag is attached to these enzymes, and they will travel out to the bacterium’s extracellular space. In this space, the enzymes will hydrolyse cellulose into glucose, which is builds up in the growth media. The glucose will function as the cell’s carbon and energy source.</p></span>
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      <span id="propanetext"><p>Our <i>E. coli</i> takes up glucose from the growth media and uses it to produce propane. The propane will be produced as a gas, and diffuses out of the growth media. This is a significant plus in terms of production: the propane will not affect the growth conditions and less downstream processing is needed. Propane is already widely used as a fuel, and is suitable for heavy transportation needs as well as passenger cars and scooters. Propane is currently produced as a side product of the petrochemical industry, but would rise to be a 2nd generation biofuel with our method. Propane emits less CO2 than ethanol or gasoline and has a higher energy density than ethanol.</p><p>Our solution is simple: the carbon dioxide released from the combustion of our biofuel would be returned to the natural carbon cycle through photosynthesis. Cellulose produced through the photosynthesis could again be turned into biopropane, the Fuel for the Future.</p></span></div>
 
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<h2> Fuel for the Future </h2>
 
<h2> Fuel for the Future </h2>
 
<p>Climate change is argued to be one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind. The current climate change is mainly caused by us humans as we have been using the Earth’s precious fossil fuel stocks without returning the emitted gases into the natural carbon cycle. According to <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch10s10-7.html#10-7-1">IPCC</a>, even if we could stop all the emissions right now, the Earth’s average temperature would rise 0.6C. This means we must act now. To fight climate change we have come up with a solution which would tackle the emissions made by the road transportation. These emissions make up <a href="http://www.oecd.org/env/39762914.pdf">a considerable 11%</a> of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.<br /><br />
 
<p>Climate change is argued to be one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind. The current climate change is mainly caused by us humans as we have been using the Earth’s precious fossil fuel stocks without returning the emitted gases into the natural carbon cycle. According to <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch10s10-7.html#10-7-1">IPCC</a>, even if we could stop all the emissions right now, the Earth’s average temperature would rise 0.6C. This means we must act now. To fight climate change we have come up with a solution which would tackle the emissions made by the road transportation. These emissions make up <a href="http://www.oecd.org/env/39762914.pdf">a considerable 11%</a> of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.<br /><br />
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Here’s our solution: we will produce sustainable propane in <i>E. coli</i> using cellulose as a carbon source. Propane is already common in car engines, and gasoline engines can be converted into propane engines quite simply and inexpensively. As propane is already widely used, the infrastructure to distribute propane is largely in place. But, the problem is that propane is currently produced as a side product of the petrochemical industry, hence it’s a fossil fuel. To solve this, we will transfer a propane producing pathway into <i>E. coli</i>. <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140902/ncomms5731/full/ncomms5731.html">The pathway</a> is a patchwork of different enzymes from different organisms, but has been shown to work in <i>E. coli</i> alone. To elevate our propane producing <i>E. coli</i> from a glucose-consuming first generation biofuel to the second generation, we are integrating a secretion system for cellulose hydrolysing enzymes. This way our bacteria could survive on agricultural and food waste, closing the carbon cycle without disturbing the current food production. </p>
 
Here’s our solution: we will produce sustainable propane in <i>E. coli</i> using cellulose as a carbon source. Propane is already common in car engines, and gasoline engines can be converted into propane engines quite simply and inexpensively. As propane is already widely used, the infrastructure to distribute propane is largely in place. But, the problem is that propane is currently produced as a side product of the petrochemical industry, hence it’s a fossil fuel. To solve this, we will transfer a propane producing pathway into <i>E. coli</i>. <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140902/ncomms5731/full/ncomms5731.html">The pathway</a> is a patchwork of different enzymes from different organisms, but has been shown to work in <i>E. coli</i> alone. To elevate our propane producing <i>E. coli</i> from a glucose-consuming first generation biofuel to the second generation, we are integrating a secretion system for cellulose hydrolysing enzymes. This way our bacteria could survive on agricultural and food waste, closing the carbon cycle without disturbing the current food production. </p>
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Revision as of 17:29, 29 August 2015

Fuel for the Future
E. coli producing renewable propane from cellulose

Here is some text when not hovered over the images!

Climate change is argued to be one of the greatest challenges faced by mankind. The current climate change is mainly caused by us humans as we have been using the Earth’s precious fossil fuel stocks causing an abrupt increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. According to IPCC, even if we could stop all the emissions right now, the Earth’s average temperature would rise 0.6C. This means we must act now. To fight climate change we have taken advantage of an abundant and renewable Finnish resource: the trees. With the help of our forest industry, we will tackle the emissions made by the road transportation. These emissions make up a considerable 11% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Imagine your car being fueled by waste cellulose and the carbon footprint of transported goods diminishing. What if we lived in a world without geopolitical pressure caused by the unbalanced localization of usable fuels?

Cellulose is the main raw material collected from Finland’s forests. Additionally about 200 million tonnes of cellulose is wasted every year in the European Union alone.This cellulose could be collected and sustainably refined into a biofuel without interfering with food production or increasing agricultural land use.

We will integrate three cellulose hydrolysing enzymes into the genome of Escherichia coli. A secretion tag is attached to these enzymes, and they will travel out to the bacterium’s extracellular space. In this space, the enzymes will hydrolyse cellulose into glucose, which is builds up in the growth media. The glucose will function as the cell’s carbon and energy source.

Our E. coli takes up glucose from the growth media and uses it to produce propane. The propane will be produced as a gas, and diffuses out of the growth media. This is a significant plus in terms of production: the propane will not affect the growth conditions and less downstream processing is needed. Propane is already widely used as a fuel, and is suitable for heavy transportation needs as well as passenger cars and scooters. Propane is currently produced as a side product of the petrochemical industry, but would rise to be a 2nd generation biofuel with our method. Propane emits less CO2 than ethanol or gasoline and has a higher energy density than ethanol.

Our solution is simple: the carbon dioxide released from the combustion of our biofuel would be returned to the natural carbon cycle through photosynthesis. Cellulose produced through the photosynthesis could again be turned into biopropane, the Fuel for the Future.