Glossary

WORD	DEFINITION
Anthropogenic methane	A greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted from manmade sources. Capturing and using methane can offer opportunities to generate new sources of clean energy and also mitigate global climate change.
Anaerobe	An organism, such as a bacterium, that can live in the absence of atmospheric oxygen.
Biofuels	A wide range of biofuels derived from biomass material.
Bioethanol	Ethanol made from biomass feedstocks.
Biorefineries	Similar to petroleum refineries but uses biological material instead of petroleum or other fossil sources to produce transportation fuels, chemicals, heat and power.
Bolt-on	A plant that is integrated with an existing production facility.
Cassava	A tropical, perennial shrub most commonly associated with tapioca. The stalk and leaves can be used as cellulosic feedstocks. The root is used for food.
Cellulosic/Lignocellulosic ethanol	Cellulosic feedstocks – non-food portion of renewable feedstocks such as cereal straws and corn stover (leaves and stems) or dedicated energy crops Lignocellulosic feedstocks – largely refers to woody biomass energy crops such as switchgrass, crop and forestry residues such as corn stover. Contains a high lignin content, hemicellulose and cellulose.
Co-product	A marketable by-product that is usually manufactured together or sequentially with another product e.g. biofuel.
DDGS	Distillers Dried Grains and Solubles, a cereal by-product of brewing cereal grains to produce alcohol e.g. ethanol.
Ethanol	Also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol or drinking alcohol. A volatile, flammable, colourless liquid.
Endogenous cellulases	Endogenous is derived from the Greek word meaning “from within”. Cellulases are enzymes that work on disassembling the cellulose material for fermentation. Endogenous cellulases naturally occur in the TMO Organism and reduce the amount of external enzymes that have to be added during the TMO Process.
Fractionation	Seperation of material into different parts or fractions.
Facultative anaerobe	An organism, usually a bacterium, capable of producing energy in the presence and absence of oxygen depending on the amounts of oxygen and fermentable material in the environment.
Geobacillus	Describes a specific group (or genus) of thermophilic bacteria.
Hemicelluloses	One of a group of complex carbohydrates that surround the cellulose fibres of plant cells. Hemicelluloses have no chemical relationship to cellulose.
Enzyme Hydrolysis	A process where a chemical compound is broken down by reaction with water in the presence of enzymes. For example, the conversion of cellulosic materials into fermentable sugars by the addition of specific enzymes.
TMO Molecular Toolkit	A set of techniques developed by TMO to “engineer” organisms to deliver a wide variety of valuable products e.g. biofuels.
MSW	Municipal Solid Waste. Also known as garbage, rubbish or trash. It usually consists of glass, metals, plastics, cardboard, organics and debris.
Oligomer/Oligomeric	Describes a molecule made up of several smaller repeating units (monomers).
PDU	Process Demonstration Unit
Pretreatment	Treatment of material to prepare it for further processing such as enzyme hydrolysis.
RED	Renewable Energy Directive. An EU Policy laying down targets for renewables to 2020 across member states.
Synthetic Biology	Biological research combining biology and engineering to design and build biological functions and systems.
Thermophile/thermophilic	Microorganisms that grow and thrive in warm or hot conditions, usually 45°C to 80°C.
TM242	The name given to the TMO Organism.
First generation biofuels	Produced by fermenting plant-derived sugars, using a similar process to that used in beer and wine-making. Uses food crops such as sugar cane, corn, wheat and sugar beet.
Second generation biofuels	Produced by fermenting plant-derived sugars, using a similar process to that used in beer and wine-making. Uses non-food sources such as agricultural and forestry waste and municipal solid waste.