DOE to Invest up to $33.8M to Develop Commercially Viable Renewable Fuels
March 5, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will invest up to $33.8 million, over four years, (Fiscal Years 2008-2011) for four projects that will focus on developing improved enzyme systems to convert cellulosic material into sugars suitable for production of biofuels.
Building on the U.S. government's goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012, these projects aim to address key technical hurdles associated with mass production of clean, renewable fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, said DOE.
Combined with industry cost share, up to $70 million will be invested in these projects, with a minimum 50% cost share from industry, said DOE.
According to DOE, these four projects seek to cost-effectively and efficiently breakdown processed biomass into fermentable sugars, a significant challenge in converting biomass into fuels.
Projects were selected based on their demonstrated ability to reduce the cost of enzymes-per-gallon of ethanol by improving an enzyme's performance.
Selected projects must demonstrate the ability to produce enzymes at a commercial scale and have a sound business strategy to market the enzymes or enzyme production systems in biorefinery operations.
Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel made from a wide variety of non-food materials, including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp and energy crops such as switchgrass, specifically for fuel production.
By relying on a variety of feedstocks, cellulosic ethanol can be produced in nearly every region of the country, using material grown locally. Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol.
Negotiations between the selected companies and DOE will begin immediately to determine final project plans and funding levels. Funding is subject to appropriations from Congress.
Selected projects include:
Dsm Innovation Center Inc. (Parsippany, NJ) Development of a Commercial Enzymes System for Lignocellulosic Biomass Saccharification
This project will employ the DSM internal, proprietary fungal systems to develop new approaches to improve enzymes for the conversion of pre-treated lignocellulosic biomass into sugars suitable for fermentation into cellulosic ethanol.
Team Members: Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies and DOE Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.
Genencor, a Division of Danisco USA Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) Enhancing Cellulase Commercial Performance for the Lignocellulosic Biomass Industry
This project plans to reduce the enzyme-dose level required for biomass saccharification by improving the specific performance of the Trichoderma Reesei mix of fungal-based cellulases to facilitate production of cellulosic ethanol from sugars produced by the saccharification process.
Team Members: DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Novozymes Inc. (Davis, CA) Project Decrease - Development of a Commercial-Ready Enzyme Application System for Ethanol
This project aims to improve performance of Novozymes' most advanced enzyme system by decreasing the dosage of enzyme required to hydrolyze biomass into fermentable sugars suitable for cellulosic ethanol production.
Team Members: Novozymes North America; Novozymes A/S; Novozymes Investment Co. Ltd; DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; DOE NREL; the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique University; and Cornell University.
Verenium Corporation (San Diego, CA) Commercialization of Customized Cellulase Solutions for Biomass Saccharification
This project will leverage Verenium's advanced enzyme development capabilities to commercialize a cellulase enzyme system to produce a more cost-effective enzyme solution for biomass saccharification processes that will also tolerate conditions that enable more efficient process economics in producing ethanol from cellulosics.
"Success of these projects will play a pivotal role in the rapid development and deployment of renewable fuels to reduce emissions and dependence on foreign oil, and fundamentally change how we power our vehicles," DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner said.
Within the last year the DOE announced $1B for multi-year biofuels R&D projects, all of which seek to advance the federal government's long-term strategy of enhancing the U.S.'s energy, economic and national security by reducing reliance on foreign oil through increased energy efficiency and diversification of clean energy sources. Integral to these R&D projects include ongoing examination of reducing greenhouse gases, and land, water and fertilizer use.
The above four projects complement the a January 2008 announcement by the DOE in which four projects were selected for a total of up to $114 million in DOE funding to build small-scale biorefinery projects in Colorado, Missouri, Oregon and Wisconsin.
These small-scale biorefineries will test novel refining processes. Other major DOE-led biofuels R&D projects include up to $405 million in DOE funding for three bioenergy centers and up to $385 million in DOE funding, over four years, for the development of six commercial-scale biorefineries, which will focus on near-term commercial processes.
With all of the DOE biofuels projects the amount of fossil fuel used to produce the biofuels is significantly less than that associated with gasoline - on average as much as 90% less over the lifecycle. The projects also reflect a coordinated approach towards addressing all technological aspects of making biofuels more commercially viable.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).