A significant portion of the petroleum consumed by the
transport sector must be replaced in the long term by renewable energy.
Therefore, it is of the utmost economic and ecological importance to optimise
the production of biofuels from renewable raw materials. Researchers from VIB
who are associated with KU Leuven have developed yeast strains that produce
bio-ethanol from waste with an unprecedented efficiency. As a result, they are
well placed to become important players on a global scale in this burgeoning industry.
Johan Thevelein (VIB/KU Leuven): “Our new yeast strains come
at a good moment because the entire industry of second-generation biofuels has
now clearly come quite a bit closer to becoming economically viable. We are
working at full capacity to further improve our yeast strains in order to
continue to increase the efficiency of the fermentations, and in this way we
hope to further strengthen our leadership position in this burgeoning
industrial sector.”