Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  	  Lecture	  III	  	  Biofuels	  by	  Biocatalysts	  	  Abstract	  Warawut	  Chulalaksananukul	  	  Associate	  Professor	  Biofuels	  by	  Biocatalysts	  Research	  Unit	  Department	  of	  Botany,	  Faculty	  of	  Science,	  Chulalongkorn	  University	  At	   present,	   the	   world	   is	   confronting	   with	   the	   problem	   of	   oil	   depletion	   resulting	   in	  higher	  oil	  prices.	  	  One	  of	  the	  main	  reasons	  is	  the	  increasing	  rate	  of	  diesel	  engine	  production.	  
Consequently,	  the	  promotions	  of	  surveys	  and	  research	  have	  been	  implemented	  in	  order	  to	  search	   for	   alternative	   sources	   of	   energy.	   Today,	   many	   scientists	   are	   trying	   to	   search	   for	   new	  technology	  of	  natural	  biomass	  production.	  Such	  alternatives	  should	  be	  decided	  based	  on	  the	  impact	   on	   the	   environment	   and	   human	   health	   compared	   to	   the	   application	   of	   fossil	   fuels.	  
The	   ability	   to	   continuously	   manipulate	   the	   undepleted	   production	   has	   to	   be	   included	   for	  consideration.	  	  Biodiesel	   is	   the	   fatty	   acid	   alkyl	   ester	   obtained	   from	   the	   chemical	   reaction	   called	  transesterification.	  In	  the	  process	  of	  biodiesel	  production	  from	  plant	  oil	  and	  animal	  fats	  with	  alcohol	   such	   as	   methanol	   or	   ethanol,	   it	   is	   necessary	   to	   add	   catalysts	   for	   the	   activation	   of	   the	  reaction	   rate.	   In	   the	   past,	   chemical	   catalysts	   such	   as	   sodium	   hydroxide	   or	   potassium	  hydroxide	  were	  more	  popularly	  used.	  The	  purity	  of	  the	  obtained	  glycerol,	  one	  of	  the	  useful	  by-­‐products,	  is	  affected	  by	  these	  fatty	  acids.	  The	  difficulty	  from	  this	  chemical	  process	  is	  an	  attempt	   to	   separate	   the	   biodiesel	   from	   glycerol.	   The	   other	   disadvantage	   is	   the	   greater	  consumption	   of	   energy	   from	   high	   temperature	   required	   for	   the	   chemical	   process	   to	  complete	  the	  reaction	  with	  the	  fastest	  possible	  rate.	  Recently,	  many	  research	  groups	  have	  focused	   on	   enzymatic	   process	   by	   lipases	   catalysis	   which,	   in	   reality,	   exhibit	   better	   qualities	  than	  chemical	  catalysts	  in	  various	  aspects.	  	  	  However,	  the	  majority	  of	  fuel	  ethanol	  in	  the	  world	  is	  made	  from	  corn	  cassava	  starch	  and	   sugarcane	   juice,	   a	   biopolymer	   of	   glucose	   and	   glulose	   that	   is	   readily	   brokendown	   to	  fermentable	   simple	   sugars	   like	   glucose.	   New	   technologies	   are	   being	   developed	   to	   produce	  ethanol	   from	   lignocellulosic	   biomass,	   such	   as	   agricultural	   wastes,	   forest	   residues	   and	   non	  food	  energy	  crops.	  Production	  of	  biofuels	  by	  biocatalysts	  is	  unquestionably	  more	  interesting.	  
It	  is	  environmental	  friendly	  and	  can	  be	  conducted	  under	  the	  ambient	  temperature	  in	  which	  the	  energy	  consumption	  is	  certainly	  low.	  	  1	  	  Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  	  Short	  Biography	  	  Dr.	   Warawut	   Chulalaksananukul	   was	   a	   student	   in	   Bachelor	   and	   Master	   Degrees	   at	  Chulalongkorn	  University	  between	  1977-­‐1983.	  After	  graduation,	  he	  became	  one	  of	  the	  staff	  members	   of	   Department	   of	   Botany,	   Faculty	   of	   Science,	   Chulalongkorn	   University.	   After	   3	  years	   work,	   he	   got	   the	   fellowship	   from	   the	   French	   government	   to	   further	   his	   study	   in	   the	  fields	  of	  Microbiology	  and	  Biotechnology	  in	  France.	  He	  got	  another	  master	  diploma	  in	  1989	  and	  was	  awarded	  his	  first	  honor	  Ph.D	  level	  from	  INSA,	  Toulouse,	  France	  in	  1993.	  Currently,	  he	   is	   the	   head	   of	   Biofuels	   by	   Biocatalysts	   Research	   Unit	   Deputy	   and	   Director	   for	  Administration	   of	   Aquatic	   Resourses	   Research	   Institute	   of	   Chulalongkorn	   University,	   Board	  of	  Genetics	  Society	  of	  Thailand	  and	  of	  The	  Science	  Society	  of	  Thailand	  under	  the	  Patronage	  of	  his	  Majesty	  the	  King.	  	  	  Dr.	  Warawut	  Chulalaksananukul	  	  Associate	  Professor	  Biofuels	  by	  Biocatalysts	  Research	  Unit	  Department	  of	  Botany,	  Faculty	  of	  Science,	  Chulalongkorn	  University	  Bangkok	  Thailand	  10330	  Email	  :	  warawut.c@chula.ac.th	  2