Scientists Find New Way To Turn Plant Waste Into Biofuels

University of California – Santa Barbara researchers have proven that tough, woody lignin can be broken down in an anaerobic environment. It’s a tough material, lignin is the structural biopolymer that gives stems, bark and branches their signature woodiness. Its one of the most abundant terrestrial polymers on Earth, lignin surrounds valuable plant fibers and other molecules that could be converted into biofuels and other commodity chemicals – if we could only get past that rigid lignin plant cell wall. In a paper published…