Biofuel Production Via in Situ Resource Utilization on Mars

Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China

^* Corresponding author: 3120201410@bit.edu.cn

Abstract

This paper is based on the fundamentals and principles of materials science and resource utilization. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) can make full use of materials in space to produce the resources needed for human survival and even interstellar migration programs. Bio-based biofuel production solutions can address human consumption in space exploration while allowing the production of fuels in a sustainable manner, with minimal inputs and producing cleaner, more environmentally friendly fuels.ISRU biofuel production can be achieved by directly converting inorganic carbon (atmospheric CO2) into target compounds as biofuels by autotrophic microorganisms, or by fixing carbon and then use metabolic engineering to convert biomass or complex substrates into target compounds, completing a two-step biofuel production process. In this paper, we investigate a potential microbial cell factory for biofuel production on Mars via ISRU, leading to some relevant breakthroughs and discoveries. This paper advances the development of the research content through a series of studies.In this paper, we have studied and optimized the use of new energy fuels based on basic fuel performance studies. This paper provides a new way of thinking and research in the field of energy research, based on the previous basic research.