Breaking down barriers: enhanced biomass conversion for space

Achieving cost-effective plant material breakdown is key to unlocking renewable resources for sustainable production - both on Earth and in space. Current pretreatment approaches aren't economically viable for widespread implementation, but a team from Ghent University, Belgium is developing a breakthrough solution with ESA Discovery support: a novel technology that exploits synergy between ionic liquids and enzyme-mediated reactions.

The INCITE project focuses on selecting and characterising resilient microorganisms that can thrive under ionic liquid treatments, then identifying their key enzymes.

Find out more here.