Biocatalysis

Shell has announced that it is creating a $21 billion joint venture (that’s billion, with a B) to produce fuel ethanol with Brazilian ethanol producer Cosan. Sugar cane will be used as the feedstock. The venture will be one of the top three ethanol producers in the world–so far.

South San Francisco-based LS9 announced today that it has developed a microbe that can produce advanced biofuels directly from cellulosic biomass, such as woodchips, in a “one-step” fermentation process that eliminates the need for additional chemicals and industrial processes.

Always at the leading edge of innovation, Apple has just filed a patent application on a solar-powered iPod, iPhone or other device. Much cooler than biofuels …

Here’s an amusing news item. According to researchers at the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University, tobacco could be a superior biofuel crop. By genetic modification, the oil accumulation in tobacco leaves was increased to 6.8% of dry weight. With tobacco leaf productivity near 1.5 tons per acre, adding the oil in leaves to the oil in tobacco seeds ((approximately 0.24 tons/acre), the total oil yield could increase to as high as .34 tons, or 90 gallons, per acre — 60% higher than oil yields from soybeans.

Colorado-based Gevo announced a new agreement with Bye Energy (Love that name!) to develop aviation fuels. According to a statement by the companies, they have initiated static engine tests with general aviation aircraft using a sustainable fuel alternative. No terms were disclosed. For previous news on Gevo, click here.

There is no shortage of biofuels conferences to attend. The 5th Annual Biofuels FInancial Conference is coming up in Minneapolis, MN June 24-25.

Biofuel company LS9 and Procter & Gamble announced a partnership to develop chemicals  to be used in consumer products. As has been typical with LS9 since its inception, details are sparse, but they have boldly stated that the deal is “multi-year” and includes “sustainable chemicals” in the products under consideration. LS9 has reported that it is developing methods to produce hydrocarbon products for fuels by combining the fatty acid synthesis pathway and adding its own proprietary enzymatic steps.

I will be interested to see if this claim actually proves to have substance behind it. OriginOil, a California-based algae biofuels company, reports that it has patented techbnolyg that solves the previously difficult problem of extracting oil from algae economically. he company said that its patent-pending process does not require chemicals or significant capital expenditure for heavy machinery, and no initial dewatering is required. According to the company, its technology combines electromagnetism and pH modification to break down cell walls, releasing algal oil within the cells. The oil rises to the top for skimming and refining, while the remaining biomass settles to the bottom for further processing as fuel and other valuable products. The technology will be showcased next week at the National Algae Association meeting in Houston.

Jim Perdue, the CEO of Perdue Farms is not a fan of fuel ethanol produced from corn.
“We live and die by corn,” he said, citing that since October 2006, the poultry industry spent an estimated $4 billion on corn to feed chickens.
“The reason for losses is not the economy,” he said, and cited the financially failing Pilgrim’s Pride poultry brand that spent $800 million on corn alone to grow chickens. “Ethanol is killing us every day.”

Correcting our April 1 post on Proteus and Agro Industrie Recherches et Developpements (ARD), the partnership is focused on improving the “bioproduction of natural origin molecules” and not cellulases. Proteus had in fact previously announced an agreement with Syngenta to develop improved enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production.