Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! In honor of the color green, the blog is posting its weekly news roundup in an unprecedented early schedule :). There really had been so many announcements that came out last week that I am unable to post them individually. Hopefully, I’ll give justice to some of them here.
By the way, I will be attending the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturer’s (AFPM) annual International Petrochemical Conference in San Antonio, Texas! I am very excited to tweet from there starting Sunday, March 24, and maybe get something good to share to the blog readers.
I still have to work on my press registration but hopefully that will come through. For now, here are this week’s news roundup:
Codexis launches new enzymes
Codexis has introduced its next generation CodeXyme 4 and CodeXyme 4X cellulase enzyme packages for use in producing cellulosic sugar for production of biofuels and biobased chemicals. The cellulase enzymes have been found to convert 75-85% of glucan and xylan into C6 and C5 sugars at 10-15g enzyme/kg of glucan. Codexis is scheduled to scale up its CodeXyme 4X cellulase strain at commercial scale in the second quarter of this year. The cellulase enzyme will also be used in pilot production of bio-based CodeXol detergent alcohols in collaboration with Chemtex in Rivalta, Italy by mid-year.
Amyris, Firmenich expands deal
Amyris and flavors & fragrances (F&F) company Firmenich have expanded their collaboration to develop additional target F&F ingredients that Amyris will develop and manufacture in exchange for significant funding over the next 6 years. Firmenich will market and distribute any ingredients resulting from the collaboration exclusively in the F&F market. A previous collaboration deal was established in November 2010 where Firmenich funded Amyris’s R&D to produce up to 3 F&F ingredients with an initial fragrance oil targeted for commercialization in early 2014.
P2 Science bags grant
Renewable specialty chemical firm P2 Science has been granted $200,000 in funding commitment from Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for growing Connecticut businesses through innovative financing and strategic assistance. P2 Science has developed a chemical process, known as hybrid ozonolysis, that enables the conversion of biomass, including vegetable oils, into aldehydes for use in fragrances and flavors and into di-acids for use in cosmetics and polymers.
Ensyn, Pinova in partnership
Renewable chemicals and biofuel technology developer Ensyn Technologies has partnered with specialty chemicals firm Pinova Holdings to develop a portfolio of specialty chemicals produced from cellulosic feedstocks. Ensyn has been producing liquid fuels and chemicals from biomass using its Rapid Thermal Processing technology, which has been in commercial operations since 1989 and has been used for producing over 30m gallons of liquid chemicals and fuel products.
Domtar starts lignin production
Fiber products company Domtar has installed a commercial-scale lignin separation plant at its Plymouth, North Carolina mill, reported the first of its type in over 25 years. Production of BioChoice lignin started in February with a targeted rate of 75 tons/day for use in a wide range of industrial applications such as fuels, resins and thermoplastics.
Davy Process partners with SEKAB
Davy Process Technology and ethanol firm SEKAB have partnered on a collaboration to develop and market CelluTech, SEKAB’s lignocellulosic based biorefinery technology. The partnership will combine their expertise to drive the technology forward to meet growing demand for advanced biorefining technologies to produce lignocellulosic sugars, ethanol and other green chemicals. The technology platform, consists of several steps including thermochemical pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis to initially produce sugars, for the onward production of ethanol by fermentation
and other products from lignocellulosic materials. The platform is flexible and can be adapted to a variety of raw materials such as wood, straw, corn residues and bagasse.
B2PAC, SCD-iBIO alliance
The Biobased Products Advocacy Consortium (B2PAC), an affiliate of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), and the recently created Society for the Commercial Development of Industrial Biotechnology (SCD-iBIO), an affiliate of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA), have formed a new alliance to advance the commercialization of industrial biotechnology and biobased products. SCD-iBIO was formed to accelerate the penetration of industrial biotechnology by educating the industry on up-to-date information and best practices through webinars and workshops. B2PAC was launched in 2012 to help members bring their innovative biobased chemical products to market.
Guayule consortium update progress
Consortium partners Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Yulex Corporation, Arizona State University (ASU), and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced significant progress on their $6.9m Biomass Research and Development Initiative on guayule rubber grant from the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) such as guayule genome sequencing needed for future breeding tools; irrigation studies to maximize rubber content in the plant; and completing laboratory testing to develop a guayule tire-grade polymer specification for future commercialization.
CO2 Solutions, Statoil partnership
CO2 Solutions has partnered with Norwegian energy firm Statoil to provide certain project data and reports related to the pre-pilot phase of CO2 Solutions’ carbon capture technology for use in Alberta oil sands project. Statoil is participating in a venture to create a global center for the development and testing of carbon capture technology. The Alberta oil sands project is being partially funded via investments of $4.7m from the Harper Government’s ecoEnergy Innovation Initiative and $500,000 from Alberta Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation.
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