Organization Name: Harvard Medical School Wyss Institute (Harvard)
Project Title: Engineering a Bacterial Reverse Fuel Cell

Harvard is engineering a self-contained, scalable Electrofuels production system that can directly generate liquid fuels from bacteria, carbon dioxide (CO₂), water, and sunlight. Harvard is genetically engineering bacteria called Shewanella, so the bacteria can sit directly on electrical conductors and absorb electrical current. This current, which is powered by solar panels, gives the bacteria the energy they need to process CO₂ into liquid fuels. The Harvard team pumps this CO₂ into the system, in addition to water and other nutrients needed to grow the bacteria. Harvard is also engineering the bacteria to produce fuel molecules that have properties similar to gasoline or diesel fuel—making them easier to incorporate into the existing fuel infrastructure. These molecules are designed to spontaneously separate from the water-based culture that the bacteria live in and to be used directly as fuel without further chemical processing once they’re pumped out of the tank.

Project Factsheet (PDF 306KB)

Electrofuels - Projects

• Columbia University: Biofuels from Bacteria, Electricity, and CO2
• Ginkgo Bioworks: Biofuels from E. Coli
• Harvard: Fuel from Bacteria, CO2, Water, and Solar Energy
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Turning Bacteria into Biofuel
• MIT: Natural Oil Production from Microorganisms 
• MIT: Liquid Fuel From Bacteria 
• MUSC: Liquid Fuel From Microbial Communities 
• North Carolina State University: Liquid Fuel from Heat-Loving Microorganisms 
• OPX Biotechnologies, Inc.: Engineering Bacteria for Efficient Fuel Production
• Pennsylvania State University: Genetically Modified Bacteria for Fuel Production
• The Ohio State University: Fuel from Bacteria
• UCLA: Liquid Fuel From Renewable Electricity and Bacteria
• UMASS Amherst: Biofuels from Solar Energy and Bacteria