Cuban experts research alternative sources for obtaining biofuels

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Jul 19 (ACN) Faced with the country's limitations with diesel and gasoline for transportation and electricity generation, workers of the Center for Industrial Biotechnology Studies (CEBI by its Spanish acronym) of the University of Oriente are researching alternative sources for obtaining clean fuels.

Manuel Serrat, a specialist of the entity, referred exclusively to the Cuban News Agency that they are involved in the new trends of renewable energies, specifically in the development of biodiesel for automotive vehicles.

He pointed out that for its manufacture there are difficulties with raw materials (vegetable fats), because the main oil crops used in first world countries are also used for human food, such as corn and soybean.

One promising solution, the expert added, is to work with oleaginous microorganisms, and as an alternative source CEBI is experimenting with yeasts that accumulate around 60% of fat in their bodies.

CEBI scientists are currently working on the method to extract the fat from the yeast, in order to make it also sovereign and environmentally sustainable, Serrat continued

So far, the levels of success are encouraging and CEBI's workers aspire to have a source of domestically produced biodiesel, he concluded.

The Center for the Study of Industrial Biotechnology will reach its 30th anniversary in November 2022 and its work is focused on the achievement of a sustainable future, the generation of technologies with industrial and environmental applications, to improve the quality of life of the population and the conservation of natural resources.