Arnie Eyes up Workstation

The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, recently visited Cobalt Biofuels’ laboratory in Mountain View, California, to learn about ground breaking research using technology developed by Don Whitley Scientific.

Cobalt’s research is focused on the commercial production of bio-butanol, as a viable and economic transportation fuel, by optimizing fermentation productivity. Bio-butanol’s production is based on an ‘acetone-butanal-ethanol process’, ABE fermentation, that uses a strain of Clostridia to anaerobically ferment plant material. This process takes place in controlled atmospheric conditions governed by the innovative anaerobic technology of Whitley workstations. Samples can be studied without compromising either the requisite low oxygen environment or the condition of the sample. Researchers at Cobalt are using the modular anaerobic workstations to identify and engineer the optimal microbial strains for converting plant material to biofuels.

Whitley workstations allow users, such as Cobalt, to adapt the system to meet the specific requirements of their applications. Two chamber sizes are available, with an airlock option as used on all Cobalt’s Whitley 1000 workstations. Once the remote-controlled entry ports are closed by the operator, an automated mechanism activates the gas-tight seal. Most servicing can be carried out while atmospheric conditions are maintained, minimising disruption in busy industrial laboratories.

Schwarzenegger toured the Cobalt Biofuels laboratory in Mountain View to highlight his California Jobs Initiative legislative package, which would exempt sales tax on green technology manufacturing equipment and create or retain 100,000 jobs in the state.