This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) research utilizes the anaerobic digestion by Clostridium phytofermentans (C-phy), which has an unusually broad substrate range and is capable of fermenting all major carbohydrate components of the plant cell wall directly to hydrogen without prior decomposition to simple sugars, to develop a system for hydrogen production. This research will: 1) Quantify the production of hydrogen by C-phy from plant-derived sugars and biomass; 2) Maximize the rate and efficiency of cellulose to hydrogen conversion, using a model feedstock. 3) Select an available significant commercial biomass feedstock for use in fermentation experiments. 4) Demonstrate the biomass to hydrogen conversion process using the selected commercial feedstock. 5) Identify targets for strain improvement. Broader impact: The broader impact of this research will be to enable biofuels production from ecologically and economically sustainable plant feedstocks to significantly offset fossil fuel use. Outcomes of this project will include: (1) an assessment of the commercial feasibility of producing hydrogen as a primary and secondary product of a novel biomass conversion process, 2) the training of the next generation of scientists for the sustainable production of biofuels from plant feedstocks. These results are expected to inspire new strategies for evolving and engineering microorganisms to enable biomass to be used as a sustainable and commercially significant source for hydrogen production. Potential customers such as oil companies, commercial gas suppliers, and venture capitalists will value the versatility of C-phy in producing hydrogen from a wide array of renewable feedstocks.
