Genencor Celebrates Major Progress in the Conversion of Biomass to Ethanol Source: Genencor International, Inc. Oct 21, 2004 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041021/sfth020_1.html
Reduction in Enzyme Cost Overcomes Significant Obstacle in Alternative Fuel Production PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genencor International, Inc. (Nasdaq: GCOR - News), and U.S. government representatives gathered at Genencor's Palo Alto headquarters today to celebrate their progress in the quest to convert biomass to ethanol and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Genencor scientists and colleagues from the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) acknowledged the significance of the completion of their 4-year collaboration to reduce the costs of enzymes to enable a commercially viable process of using cellulosic biomass (such as agricultural waste) to make ethanol, which can currently be made from sugar cane and starchy grains. Genencor also announced that it has achieved an estimated cellulase cost in the range of $0.10-$0.20 per gallon of ethanol in NREL's cost model. This represents an approximate 30-fold improvement in enzyme cost in that model. NREL is expected to validate these results at pilot scale within the next quarter. Genencor noted that the actual enzyme cost and the final cost of ethanol in a commercial process will be heavily dependent upon overcoming the remaining hurdles in the development of integrated biorefineries. "We have exceeded the contractual goals and the expectations of the DOE and NREL," said Michael V. Arbige, Genencor's senior vice president of technology. "But more importantly, we have overcome a critical hurdle in making biorefineries and alternative fuels a reality." The technology developed is an important step toward realizing the potential of biorefineries, analogous to an oil refinery today, in which plant and waste materials are used to produce an array of fuels and chemicals. Further progress toward a commercially viable biorefinery depends on the development of pilot-scale, real-world processes for biomass conversion. Genencor is working with Cargill-Dow on such a project, also funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), and looks forward to working with others as biorefinery development advances toward industrial scale. Earlier this month, this work was acknowledged by R&D magazine as one of the Top 100 Technologically Significant Products for 2004, in a joint award to Genencor, NREL and Novozymes Biotech. <><><><><><> Genencor advances alternative fuel By SMRITI JACOB Rochester Business Journal October 21, 2004 http://www.rbj.net/fullarticle.cfm?sdid=52243 Genencor International Inc. has achieved a 30-fold cost improvement to enable a commercially viable process of corn stalks, wheat and other materials to make ethanol. The biotechnology firm and the Department of Energyās National Renewable Energy Laboratory Thursday acknowledged the significance of the completion of their four-year, roughly $17 million collaboration to reduce enzyme costs for alternative fuel production. Genencor has achieved an estimated cellulase enzyme cost of 10 cents to 20 cents a gallon of ethanol in NRELās cost model. The project is aimed to develop a new generation of enzyme systems that could economically convert corn stalks, wheat and other materials into fermentable sugars for conversion into bioethanol and other chemicals. Bioethanol is expected to be used to power automobiles in the future. NREL is expected to validate these results at pilot scale within the next quarter. Genencor officials said the actual enzyme cost and the final cost of ethanol in a commercial process will depend heavily on overcoming the remaining hurdles in the development of integrated biorefineries÷a refinery analogous to an oil refinery, in which plant and waste materials are used to produce an array of fuels and chemicals. The firm is working with Cargill Dow LLC on a Department of Energy project to develop pilot scale, real world processes for biomass conversion. Genencor (Nasdaq: GCOR) develops enzymes for the industrial, agricultural and health care markets. It employs 200 people here. _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
