Biobutanol Production by a New Local Isolate of Clostridium acetobutylicum YM1

Increasing demand of energy and awareness about environmental pollution has led to increase interest in alternative, clean and renewable energy sources. Biobutanol is considered as the candidate liquid biofuel to replace gasoline. In this study, the capability of a newly isolated strain of local Clostridium acetobutylicum YM1 was tested to produce biobutanol in batch fermentation. Various culture conditions including glucose concentration, initial pH, incubation temperature and inoculum size were investigated for their effects on production of biobutanol using strain YM1. The results showed that the optimal biobutanol production was obtained at glucose concentration 50 g/L, initial pH 6.2, temperature 30 degrees C and inoculum size 10%. These results show that C. acetobutylicum YM1 as a mesophilic bacterium is a potential candidate for biobutanol production.