Novel Biological Conversion of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide Directly into Biodiesel: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number: CRD-10-408

OPX Biotechnologies, Inc. (OPX), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Johnson Matthey will develop and optimize a novel, engineered microorganism that directly produces biodiesel from renewable hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The proposed process will fix CO2 utilizing H2 to generate an infrastructure-compatible, energy-dense fuel at costs of less than $2.50 per gallon,with water being produced as the primary byproduct. NREL will perform metabolic engineering on the bacterium Cupriavidus necator (formerly Ralstonia eutropha) and a techno-economic analysis to guide future scale-up work. H2 and CO2 uptakes rates will be genetically increased, production of free fatty acids will be enhanced and their degradation pathway blocked in order to meet the ultimateprogram goals.