Corn: The Leading U.S. Fuel Ethanol Crop

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The U.S. fuel ethanol industry, with a production capacity of 3.9 billion gallons in 2005, is based largely on corn. Microbes collected from the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming may increase the production of ethanol from corn. DOE JGI analyzed the DNA sequence of the microbes, and these data were used to identify an enzyme that helps break down the fibers in corn byproducts used to make ethanol, allowing more fuel to be made from the same amount of corn by breaking down the starches in its cell walls. This cell-wall-degrading enzyme increases production of alcohol from corn by 2% to 3%, which may not sound like much, but if an ethanol facility makes 50 million gallons of corn-alcohol a year, that small percentage translates to an annual increase of 1 million extra gallons. Since this enzyme tolerates the high temperatures of the Yellowstone hot springs, it also functions well in the heat of alcohol production.

 

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