Biocatalysis

In a press release yesterday Massachusetts-based Qteros, developer of the Q-microbe “”superbug” (actually Clostridium phytoferrans, but “Q” is much easier to pronounce and type).

The processes uses a material the company calls Recyllose-sewage sludge solids that are high is cellulose. Turning sewage sludge into ethanol offers a big opportunity for Qteros, which is partnering with Israel-based Applied CleanTech to develop the technology. Recyllose is a particularly good type of cellulosic feedstock as it contains very low amounts of lignin, the plant cell wall component that is difficult to degrade. Qteros-ACT scientists claim 120-135 gallons of ethanol per ton of Recyllose, and titers of 9% ethanol currently.

Quoting from the press release: “Our customer is every municipality that has a wastewater treatment plant,” said Jeff Hausthor, Qteros co-founder and senior project manager. “It will provide a value-added product for municipal wastewater plants, thereby making treatment plants much less expensive to run and helping local governments throughout the world with their constrained budgets.”

Israel Biran, ACT’s CEO, added, “It also helps answer the question of what municipalities can do with their sewage sludge, a major challenge now facing every wastewater treatment plant operator.”

There has been a PR blitz over the past 24 hours, and it appears to be well-merited.

The novel Q-microbe, a rare microorganisms isolated from a pond in Massachusetts that can convert cellulose to ethanol in high yield! A new, flexible, low-cost Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBO) method! Investors that include Venrock, Batttery Ventures, British Petroleum and even George Soros. All of this sounds great. This is the new Qteros, formerly SunEthanol, a venture-backed start-up focusing on cellulose to ethanol conversion. They have plenty of company in this market. The company claims its technology can be applied to a wide range of biomass feedstocks and agricultural residues.

If all goes according to plan, the Q-microbe will degrade cellulose and hemi-cellulose and convert all of the component sugars into ethanol. No enzymatic hydrolysis, no nasty pre-treatment methodologies, just a simple, efficient fermentation. Does that sound great, or what?! Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick hailed the company as one of the Bay State’s premier clean-tech companies. Founder Prof. Susan Leschine has been widely honored for her discoveries. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Is it? There has been a lot of promotion associated with Qteros. We will check back in 6-12 months and see what the latest round of funding has produced in the way of results.