Termites: miniature bioreactors producing biofuels from biomass .
The enzymes present in microorganisms that develop in the intestinal tract of termites are miniature bioreactors capable of splitting the complex polymer chain of cellulose in much smaller units of sugars that constitute the food of the termite. In the biotechnology, these enzymes could be incorporated in fermentation processes, which would produce biofuels from waste wood and other agro-industrial waste.
Termites in the short term may become an element for the production of biofuels, said the program director for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner.
In a column published by the Brazilian newspaper Gazeta Mercantil, Steiner noted that termites harbor microbes capable of transforming "an efficient and economical wood waste into sugar for ethanol production."
"The U.S. is investing billions of dollars in alternative fuels, a part of which was intended to termites," said Steiner, who started a visit to Brazil. "Similar studies are being conducted in the laboratory of tropical insects from Kenya with European funding," he added.
noted that "few years" termite technology could surpass the sugar cane or corn, with which Brazil and the United States produce, respectively, ethanol as a gasoline substitute.
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