Cellulosic ethanol has reached a turning point,
in which enzyme and application technologies
must prepare to meet increased global demands
for advanced biofuels. The race to make 2nd
generation ethanol production cost-effective
comes as the U.S. takes on new renewable
fuels standards that call for annual volumes of
non-corn-based biofuels of 21 billion gallons by
2022. At the same time, EU Directives are driving
forward projects for cellulosic ethanol production.
And developing nations like China, India and
Brazil are looking to tackle climate change and
land use issues by converting agricultural waste
to fuel ethanol.
These realities are spawning both intense
competition and collaboration. As a result, RD&E
and commercial partnerships are clearing hurdles
to cost-effective cellulosic ethanol production.
Breakthrough R&D collaboration
The challenges in taking cellulosic ethanol to
commercial scale are well known. A number
of R&D and biorefinery projects are currently
resolving critical issues in pre-treatment,
hydrolysis, fermentation and recovery, as well
as in plant engineering. Recently scientists have
made several key breakthroughs in the conversion
process — breaking down complex cellulosic
biomass structures to prepare for fermentation.
This puts the industry on the cusp of cost-effective
large scale production of ethanol from biomass
feedstocks such as corn stover, switchgrass,
forest waste, paper pulp and sugarcane bagasse.
That is to say, in the near future cellulosic ethanol
will reach commercial scale. In 2005, Genencor
completed a four-year Department of Energy
(DOE) subcontract administered and monitored
by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
to reduce the cost of enzymes for hydrolysis.
Genencor’s research achieved a near 30-fold
improvement in enzyme cost in that model. To
reach the savings, the researchers developed a
mixture of enzymes that works synergistically to
convert cellulose into glucose and also improved
their production strain and production processes
to create economies of scale. This was a
major stride toward realizing greater potential
for biorefineries. It also helped make possible
the launch of the first commercially available
biomass enzyme complex, called Accellerase™
1000, developed specifically for 2nd generation
biorefineries. Since then, Genencor continues to
advance and apply the technology and respond to
customer feedback to deliver improved versions
of this much needed enzyme. In February of 2007,
the Department of Energy (DOE) chose Genencor
as one of four companies to receive funding to
develop improved enzyme systems for cellulosic
ethanol production. Genencor will receive part
of a total DOE investment of up to $33.8 million
over four years, which will accelerate the next
generation of biomass enzymes.
Among its various R&D collaboration programs,
Genencor also participates in Biomass Refining
Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and
Innovation (CAFI) projects in the US, which have
been important to developments in biomass
hydrolysis.
Biorefineries fuel solutions
A number of pilot plants are now working toward
making overall cellulosic ethanol processes more
time- and cost-efficient...
Read more about this article in our Monthly Market Review - March Issue
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