Energy Transition

Ideas @Davos: Biofuels of the future

Kristala Prather

How do you feed the world, provide biofuels and remain sustainable? Kristala Prather shows us how microbes could provide an answer.

Microbes, small living systems which take sugars and turn them into fuel, could help to solve the world’s energy shortfall as well as cutting greenhouse gas emissions, explains Kristala Prather in the above video.

We have to be able to take ideas from a lab into the real world, she argues. Synthetic biology is used to custom design microbes that produce replacements for diesel and gasoline. If this work succeeds, we’ll drastically reduce the consumption of oil, and emissions of greenhouse gases into the environment.

Kristala Prather is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

 

 

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Related topics:
Energy TransitionNature and Biodiversity
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

COP29: Why new climate pledges need ambition, finance and action to succeed

Jorge Moreira da Silva

November 11, 2024

Meeting global climate goals requires a step change in nuclear investment

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum