Producing biofuels via the carboxylate platform
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abstract
The carboxylate platform ferments a wide variety of biomass feedstocks into mixed carboxylic acids and their salts, which in turn can be transformed into hydrocarbon fuels. The carboxylate platform capitalizes on fermentations that are thermodynamically driven, and hence does not require sterile operating conditions or genetic engineering. These natural fermentations occur widely, such as in cattle rumen, termite hindguts, swamps, and anaerobic digesters. Some key intermediate steps require hydrogen, which can be produced from gasified biomass residues.