NAWCWD, Amyris Collaborate on
High-Energy Biosynthetic Fuel From Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Public Affairs Biosynthetic researchers with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) and Amyris Inc. are taking a common ingredient of liquid jet fuel and bread—yeast—to develop a high-density weapon fuel.
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Chemists with the biotech company Amyris are working with Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) to use specially developed yeast to create a high-density missile fuel. Note: Photo was taken prior to COVID-19.
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Photo courtesy of Amyris, Inc.
unded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Living Foundries: 1000 Molecules Program, the project—headed by NAWCWD in China Lake, and Amyris Inc., a biotechnology company headquartered in Emeryville, California—aims to specially develop yeast cells into a high-density missile fuel. Synthetic biology is a field that involves engineering organisms to reliably produce a specific, naturally occurring substance, such as a medicine, sweetener or a complex mixture of hydrocarbons. In Amyris’ case, researchers genetically modify yeast cells to ferment sugar into molecules that can be difficult to reliably, sustainably or affordably obtain. “Think about the rose oil we use in fragrances,” said Dr. Patrick Rose, science director for synthetic biology for the Office of Naval Research Global. “Right now, you’d have to seed a field of roses, let them bloom, harvest the petals, then process and purify the product.” That process is time consuming and labor-intensive for
an impure and unreliable outcome. Modified bacteria can produce a purer sample of the same compound through fermentation. And it’s not just rose oil; a wide range of biological molecules can be produced in this manner. In order to trace what molecules are needed, partnerships between government, industry and academia become important. “Over the course of the Living Foundries program, DARPA often played ‘matchmaker’ to connect Amyris with scientists in the Army, Air Force and Navy,” said Dr. Adam Meadows, principal scientist in Amyris’ Process Development and Manufacturing Department. “Dr. Benjamin Harvey [NAWCWD’s senior research chemist] was able to provide guidance on which classes of biomolecules were most interesting in the fuels and material space.” Conventional hydrocarbon fuels are produced by distillation of crude oil. This process generates a variety of products including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. However, these distillates include sulfur-containing and aromatic compounds that can lead to acid rain, engine corrosion and particulate formation. This leads to lower performance and increased maintenance costs for the Navy. Then there are synthetic fuels, which are produced by combining specific petrochemical molecules to generate fuel mix-
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