Biorefineries alive and well, say experts

The biotechnology industry continues to make progress in its quest to create commercial alternatives to gasoline fuel and other chemicals, according to executives on a panel hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

In the chemical industry, Christophe Schilling, CEO of San Diego, Calif.-based Genomatica, said he’s seeing increased demand for products that are produced sustainably, and he believes biotechnology holds a way to produce those products and do it at a lower cost.

Schilling, along with leaders of industrial biotech companies focused on chemicals and consumer products, participated in a roundtable discussion June 11 on biorefinery applications that combine chemical and energy production with biofuels, as well as how some of their projects and pilot plants are proceeding.

Industrial biotechnology allows chemicals and other products to be produced from renewable resources instead of petroleum. Biorefineries make a variety of products expected to produce new opportunities for growth in the industry.

A report from the UK’s Industrial Biotechnology Innovation & Growth Team states the market for biotech products from biorefineries is expected to be about £35 billion to £53 billion ($57.6 billion to $87.2 billion) this year.

Wes Bolsen, vice president and chief marketing officer of Warrenville, Ill.-based Coskata said his company is building a demonstration biorefinery to produce fuels and energy in a flexible feedstock platform that uses a variety of renewable resources. Coskata’s technology enables the low-cost production of ethanol from materials including biomass, agricultural and municipal wastes, as well as other carbonaceous material.

“We are going to be able to compete head-to-head with gasoline, unsubsidized, in the long term,” he said.

The company, which came out of stealth in 2008 (see Khosla-backed Coskata, EcoMotors come out of stealth), is also looking to reduce greenhouse gases by 96 percent compared to conventional gas, while being the lowest water user per gallon of the ethanol it produces.

The company has an existing pilot project outside of Chicago that’s been operating since 2008 (see Coskata, ICM to build ethanol plant), and another plant coming “in a matter of days” outside of Pittsburgh, Bolsen said.

Sustainable chemical company Genomatica is using biotechnology to convert feedstock into existing intermediate chemicals, Schilling said. He said 90 to 95 percent of chemicals produced today come from oil and natural gas.

“At Genomatica, we are looking to develop ways to produce those exact same chemicals, but produce those from renewable chemicals with biotechnology,” he said.

On June 2, Genomatica announced validation of its ability to produce commercial grade 1,4 butaneditol (BDO) from renewable feedstock. BDO is used in plastics, solvents, pharmaceuticals, automotive components and textiles. The company said it can process BDO produced from sugar to greater than 99 percent purity in a cost-effective recovery process. Genomatica first announced its abilities to make the key plastic component without petrochemicals in 2008 (see Genomatica develops novel bioplastic).

Genomatica is developing a demonstration facility to begin operating next year. Schilling said commercialization would follow in the next three to four years.

“By doing that, I think we’ll see this catalyzing a change, a transformation within this industry to renewable feedstocks that will be able to be used to make portions of the chemicals that are currently today all produced from oil and natural gas,” he said.

Tim Eggeman, chief technology officer and co-founder of Lakewood, Colo.-based ZeaChem, said his company is using a hybrid biorefinery platform based on biochemical and thermochemical processing to produce third-generation ethanol fuel and intermediate chemicals. The cellulosic ethanol company claims it can be feedstock agnostic and is focused on using crops grown throughout the United States.

ZeaChem plans to break ground on its first biorefinery in eastern Oregon by the end of the year, and has a contract with Portland, Ore.-based GreenWood Resources to provide a dedicated crop of poplar trees (see ZeaChem starts work on first biorefinery).

The company’s first commercial facility, expected to open in 2013, plans to generate 25 million gallons of ethanol per year, with larger follow-on facilities pumping out 100 million gallons per year, Eggeman said. ZeaChem plans to sell the ethanol to petroleum companies to blend directly into fuel.

ZeaChem hasn’t revealed the cost of the plant, but said it was funded as part of the company’s $34 million round from Globespan Capital Partners, PrairieGold Venture Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Firelake Capital and petroleum refiner Valero Energy (see New year money goes to biofuels). The company previously raised $4 million (see Please sir, may I have some Mohr?).

Marguerite Cervin, a staff scientist in expression and molecular biology at Genencor, a division of Danisco, said her company is focused on delivering a BioIsoprene product, derived from raw materials, to Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The BioIsoprene product provides an alternative to petrochemically derived isoprene, a key intermediate for synthetic rubber production.

Genencor and Goodyear first announced the research collaboration on the technology in September 2008. Cervin said Genencor has made a $50 million investment over five years in the technology and is ahead of schedule to deliver the first gallon of BioIsoprene to Goodyear. The product is expected to be commercially available in 2013.

In 2008, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol and University of Tennessee broke ground on a pilot scale biorefinery in Vonore, Tenn. (see DuPont Danisco starts work on Tennessee biorefinery).

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol was formed as a 50-50 joint venture between Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (NYSE:DD), the No. 3 chemical maker in the U.S., and Copenhagen, Denmark's Danisco, one of the world's largest producers of food ingredients.

The 250,000 gallon per year pilot scale plant is expected to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn stover and switchgrass. The facility was scheduled to be operational by the end of 2009.

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