Biocatalysis

Verenium, the enzyme developer that was created when Diversa merged with cellulosic ethanol developer Celunol, has now sold its cellulosic business to BP for $98.3 million. Included in the transaction are the facilities in Jennings, LA and San Diego, CA.

Verenium will retain its specialty enzyme business, including its enzymes for facilitating biofuels production.

As a result of this deal, Verenium is returning to its original focus on biocatalysis and the development of improved enzymes for industrial applications. Read the press release here.

The winners of the 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry awards include Merck and Codexis for their collaborative work on a new enzyme-based process for manufacturing Januvia and LS9, Inc for its work toward developing a petroleum-like biofuel. The full list of recipients is here.

With so much press (and hype) surrounding the biofuels industry, and so many new developments, understanding what is hot and what is not can be challenging. Ecofriend has tried to cut through the fog, listing their picks as the 10 Most Transformative Technologies of 2010. Follow the link for details. I’ll comment on some of these in upcoming posts.

I will make one observation now: Craig Venter’s creation of the first synthetic cell is not on the list–a gross oversight in my humble opinion.

Converting a greenhouse gas to fuel looks great on paper and sounds even better. Cost and those pesky technical details get in the way, of course, but progress is accelerating. For an update on that progress, check out this article by Jim Lane and Biofuels Digest.

Ethanol, and to a lesser extent biodiesel, have been the only biofuels products of note to be offered thus far. Why? For the simple reason that the technology already existed to make these products at a cost that allowed for commercialization without too large a subsidy. But, if one thinks about the ideal biofuel process, there is a much more attractive option being pursued at a number of early-stage biofuels developers.

Imagine a process that converts carbon dioxide–a greenhouse gas!–into a biofuel while growing in a pond or in sea water. This would be biofuels nirvana, and it may not be too far from becoming a reality.

Here are a few companies to watch.

Aurora Biofuels is using a genetically modified algae developed at the University of California at Berkeley to efficiently produce biodiesel using CO2 as the feedstock. The Aurora claims the technology can create biodiesel fuel competitive with $50 per barrel oil.

Synthetic Genomics approach does not use algae, but rather, specially created micro-organisms that are built by redesigning the genome almost form scratch. The ultimate goal is the conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels or commodity chemicals using energy from the sun to drive the process. Craig Venter, of genome-sequencing fame, leads this effort with up to $300 million in funding form Exxon Mobil. That kind of financial support gives Synthetic Genomics a good shot at success.

Solazyme was named the Biofuels Digest “Company of the Year,” ranking number one on their list of the 50 Hottest Biofuels Companies. Solazyme has also announced a near-term focus on launching food products produced by algae, with a food oil similar to olive oil as a lead product. This probably stands a better chance of  near-term commercialization since the prices are about 25 times higher than for a fuel. The hope appears to be that cash flow from a large-volume food product will help fund even larger-volume fuel production.

Sapphire Energy is developing a product the company calls Green Crude. The product is green because it is produced by algae from sunlight and carbon dioxide. If successful, Sapphire’s crude product will be refineable into the three most important fuels in use today: gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. With more than 100 employees and blue chip venture capital support, Sapphire bears watching.

Compared to bio-ethanol companies, algae companies have been lurking in the shadows, but they may be about ready to pounce.

Biofuels Digest released its 50 Hottest Biofuels Companies for this year and Solazyme is number 1, now well-established as a leader in the use of algae to produce biofuels. Read our  profile of Solazyme from March 22, 2009 here.

Algae has garnered a lot of attention as a biofuels source, but a big economic hurdle is collecting the oil-rich algae from ponds in which they are grown so that they can be processed to extract the fuel. LiveFuels has a novel approach to that problem: have fish eat the algae and recover and process the fish. The tag-line: biomass concentration as nature intended it. One algae expert called this approach “not impossible.” I also find it not unlikely that no funding will not be found from investors who are not unbelieving this not impossible approach.

I love some of the promotional tag lines in the biofuels arena, and the newest one, courtesy of Joule Biotechnologies, is “fuel from thin air.” The Massachusetts-based firm has developed a genetically-engineered microbe that, according to the company, converts carbon dioxide, sunlight, and standard nutrients into ethanol. Joule estimates based on its lab data that the process can produce 25,000 gallons of ethanol for $50 per barrel. A pilot plant to prove this is planned for a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the American Southwest. Hold on to your horses!

Solazyme, which until now has positioned itself as a producer of biofuels from algae, has just announced a shift in focus to produce food oils. The company believes it can have products on the market in 2010.  According to chief technology officer Harrison Dillon, the decision to diversify into food products came about by almost by accident when scientists at the company discovered their algae could excrete oils that were similar to olive oil. Olive oil has a market price about 25 times higher than fuel; I’ll bet that also played a role in the decision.

Biofuels Digest has released its new rankings of biofuels companies. Here are the top 10, many of which have been profiled here in the past:

1 Solazyme,2 Poet, 3 Amyris, 4 BP Biofuels, 5 Sapphire Energy, 6 Coskata, 7 DuPont Danisco, 8 LS9, 9 Verenium, 10 Mascoma.

There were a few new names on the list: BP Biofuels was unranked last year and showed up at number 4 this year. Other newbies were further down the list.  Algae companies were strong this year, along with companies showing ability to scale up production for ethanol. We will take a closer look at some of these players in upcoming posts.