Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories in the US have found a way to break down derivatives of lignin, which provides plant cell walls with their structure, in order to make biofuels from plant waste. Fuel made from lignin could provide a cheap alternative to petroleum, but currently lignin is burned for electricity or discarded because of the difficulty of breaking it down. The researchers used an enzyme called pyrolysis-reductase, which breaks apart lignin.
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories in the US have found a way to break down derivatives of lignin, which provides plant cell walls with their structure, in order to make biofuels from plant waste. Fuel made from lignin could provide a cheap alternative to petroleum, but currently lignin is burned for electricity or discarded because of the difficulty of breaking it down. The researchers used the enzyme LigM to break down molecules derived from lignin derivatives but acknowledge "there is still work to be done to figure out the whole reaction pathway".