Syngenta in Australian biofuel research

Basel, Switzerland's Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) announced that it plans to work on biofuel research in Australia with Queensland University of Technology, the university's technology transfer and commercialization company qutbluebox, and Farmacule BioIndustries.

Syngenta, one of the world's largest agrochemical companies, said the group plans to work on the development of cost effective conversion of sugarcan bagasse to biofuels, including the delivery of plant-expressed enzymes.

"This broadens Syngenta’s biofuels strategy into new crops and speeds up our development of biomass conversion technologies to make cellulosic ethanol economically viable," said Robert Berendes, head of business development at Syngenta.

The company said it would set up the Syngenta Centre for Sugarcane Biofuel Development on QUT's campus in Brisbane, with the Queensland government investing $4.6 million in the project.

No other financial details of the research project were disclosed.

"This collaboration brings together dynamic new technologies as well as the expertise and infrastructure to tackle the challenge of producing cellulosic ethanol from cane," said James Dale, director at the Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities at QUT.

"It has the potential to substantially decrease the cost of bioethanol production and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Under the collaboration agreement, Syngenta will have exclusive global marketing rights for the products, excluding Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands, where the rights will be held by the other project partners.

Syngenta said the research center would start operations immediately.

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