Enzymes and fungi will win war on oil

The 3-day event, which finishes on Wednesday, attracted some 1,600 visitors
from 70 countries. They could attend or view hundreds of presentations and
posters that were subdivided by animal species and nutritional
subject.

Lyons used a loaf of bread and small board to illustrate how
energy and useful materials can be extracted from common items by fermentation
and other natural processes.

Cellulose is future
Cellulose,
like that found in the board, “is the future,” he said, because it releases
energy as it is broken down chemically.

Alltech expects to break ground
in about a year for its first Community Biorefinery, which would turn locally
produced grains into ethanol, biodiesel or alcohol fuels for nearby
users.

“Green is the new black,” Lyons said, in a world where oil is
running out and the search for alternative fuels is accelerating. “Truly we are
pressing the fast-forward button,” he said.

Medal of
Excellence
Alltech also presented its Medal of Excellence to two
researchers: Jean-Pierre Jouany of the French National Institute for
Agricultural Research in Paris and one of Jouany’s former students, Alexandros
Yiannikouris, who is now a researcher at Alltech in Nicholasville.

Jouany
and Yiannikouris were cited for their extensive research on ways to eliminate
mycotoxins, or naturally occurring toxins produced by fungi, from the human and
animal food chains.