Concerned about the phenomenon of desertification, which has caused an increase in the semi-arid climate region in Brazil, Brazilian researchers are researching plants with the potential to generate bioenergy. Among those eligible, the chosen one was the Agave sisalana whose leaves are used in the manufacture of sisal.
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of sisal fiber, and agave cultivation is concentrated in the Brazilian hinterland, in an area of 80 million hectares of semi-arid underutilized land in the Northeast region. Currently, culture is one of the only sources of income for the local population.
Despite being resistant to drought and having high productivity, even without irrigation, the agave’s growth is limited by the lack of advanced genetic tools. According to a statement, cultivation today uses only 4% of the plant, producing an immense amount of waste, which is abandoned in the field.
To reverse this situation, the Brazilian Agave Development (BRAVE) project, a partnership between Unicamp, Shell and other teaching and research institutions, aims to fully take advantage of the plant’s economic and productive potential as a solution to mitigate climate change.
Agave and climate change
Climate change has “stretched” the Brazilian semi-arid region. According to the National Center for Monitoring and Alerting of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the hot and dry region has grown by 7,500 square kilometers per year since 1990.
In this bleak scenario, the researchers decided to transform the agave, a huge group of succulent plants with more than 200 species, in the new “cane of the hinterland” . The idea is to harness the potential of the plant, which is used in Mexico to make tequila, in the production of biofuels.
In favor of agave, scientists point to several advantages, such as its resistance to drought and climate change, lower water demand, and deep roots, which help stabilize the soil and reduce erosion. Furthermore, the agave is already adapted to the native vegetation of the caatinga.
On environmental issues, agave also prevails, as it reduces pressure on already scarce water resources, requires fewer chemical products, causes less soil degradation and is efficient in capturing CO2.
Enabling the production of biofuels
During the recent presentation of the project results, during the FAPESP Week Italy event, biologists Marcelo Falsarella Carazzolle and Gonçalo Pereia, both from Unicamp, explained that the team collected different species of agave throughout Brazil, and even in Mexico and Australia.
One of the main difficulties encountered in the research was that the Saccharomyces cerevisiaea fungus (also called “brewer’s yeast”) used in the production of ethanol, cannot metabolize inulin, a fructose polymer, which requires the use of hydrolysis to release sugar.
This technical challenge in producing biofuel from agave was overcome through the development of a genetically modified strain for this purpose. Both this new strain and genetically modified yeasts were patented at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
To accelerate the still slow growth of agave, “We are patenting a compound that doubles [a taxa de crescimento]”, says Carazzolle. The final objective of the project is to make viable, in addition to ethanol, also the production of biomethane and biohydrogen gases, and biochar a carbon-rich solid.
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This content was originally published in Brazilian researchers try to transform plants into “cane from the backlands”; understand on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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