Orlando, Florida
February 27, 2008
U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner today announced
that DOE 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 President Bush’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. Combined with
industry cost share, up to $70 million will be invested in these
projects, with a minimum 50 percent cost share from industry.
Assistant Secretary Karsner made today’s announcement while
delivering keynote remarks at the Renewable Fuels Association
National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Florida.
“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
Karsner said. “Supported by the President’s ambitious plan to
dramatically reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent in
ten years, the Department is on track to bring online more
clean, abundant, affordable and domestically produced biofuels
at a rate and scale that will have a substantial impact on our
entire transportation sector. In the interest of the
environment, and energy, economic and national security,
biofuels must continue to play a significant role as we work to
diversify our nation’s energy sources and provide a balanced
portfolio of science and technology solutions to help meet the
rapidly growing demand for energy worldwide.”
These four projects seek to more 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.
Today’s announcement is also part of over $1 billion DOE has
announced within the last year for multi-year biofuels research
and development (R&D) projects, all of which seek to advance the
Bush Administration’s long-term strategy of enhancing the
nation’s energy, economic and national security by reducing our
nation’s 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.
Projects announced today also complement the Department’s
January 2008 announcement in which four projects were selected
for a total of up to $114 million in DOE funding to build
small-scale biorefinery projects to be located in Commerce City,
Colorado; St. Joseph, Missouri; Boardman, Oregon; and Wisconsin
Rapids, Wisconsin. These small-scale biorefineries will test
newer, 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 these projects, which reflect a
coordinated approach to addressing all technological aspects of
making biofuels more commercially viable, the amount of fossil
fuel used to produce the biofuels is significantly less than
that associated with gasoline – on average as much as 90 percent
less over the lifecycle.
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 DSM’s 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 (Nebraska);
and DOE’s Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories (New
Mexico).
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’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Colorado)
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 (North
Carolina); Novozymes A/S (Denmark); Novozymes (China)
Investment Co. Ltd; DOE’s Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (Washington) and the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (Colorado); the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique University (France); and Cornell University
(New York).
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.
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