SQU professor obtains patent for biofuel production

MUSCAT: Mohab bin Ali al Hinai, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), obtained a patent in his research on the bacteria that contribute to the production of biofuels in 2014. Al Hinai said in an interview that the idea of a production of biofuels by bacteria was a development of acetobutylicum Clostridium bacteria, which is the fastest in its group in the production of organic materials used as biofuels. He added that the significance of the said bacteria is that it produces biofuels from plants that contain fiber and not of the components of basic foodstuffs for humans, such as maize, wheat and sugar cane. He affirmed that the most important challenges are to find a way to make this invention economically feasible.  He added that he is currently working on the development of research on biofuels from agricultural waste and the smallest organisms found in the Omani environment. — ONA