UCLA is redesigning the carbon fixation pathways of plants to make them more efficient at capturing the energy in sunlight. Carbon fixation is the key process that plants use to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere into higher energy molecules (such as sugars) using energy from the sun. UCLA addresses the inefficiency of the process through an alternative biochemical pathway that uses 50% less energy than the pathway used by all land plants. In addition, instead of producing sugars, UCLA's designer pathway will produce pyruvate, the precursor of choice for a wide variety of liquid fuels.
Poroject Lead: University of Los Angeles (UCLA)
Region: North America
Country: United States
City/Town: Los Angeles
Timeline Start - End: 2012-01-01 - 2015-09-30
Project Status: Completed
Project Budget: 3455035.99 €
Funding source: ARPA-E
Activities:
- CCU
CO2 Source: Atmospheric CO2
CCU Tecnology Category: Utilization
Info On Utilization:
- Biological conversion
CO2 capture/Utilization:
Production Volume:
Product Categories:
- Fuels
Specific Product(s): Pyruvate, a precursor for a wide variety of liquid fuels
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