Deinove successfully reaches 2G bioethanol pre-industrial scale in a 300l fermenter

Deinove, a French biotech company developing processes for producing biofuels and bio-based chemicals from non-food biomass with its Deinococcus bacteria, has produced 2G ethanol with an exceptional performance level in a 300l fermenter.

The trials were conducted at  VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Deinove's long-term partner, which has the necessary infrastructure to implement and evaluate this type of pilot operation.

The raw material used is a mixture of glucose (a six-carbon atoms sugar, C6) and xylose (C5), the main components obtained by the hydrolysis of non-food biomass used in the production of 2G biofuels.

Fermentation of these 2G sugars by an optimized Deinol strain has resulted in the production of ethanol at 7.3%v/v ².

This performance is consistent with the results obtained by the Deinove team in its laboratories in 20l fermenters.

Emmanuel Petiot, CEO of Deinove, is pleased with the results, saying they represent a great step toward industrialisation of the ethanol production process.

‘This result confirms that the Deinococcus platform is suitable for commercialisation. On the eve of COP21, French biotech demonstrates that 2G ethanol can truly and efficiently fight against climate change. Based on these results, we will work with our partners on the next steps: scale-up to a cubic meter scale and industrial pilots. We are confident in our capabilities to provide a technological and economically competitive solution by 2018,’ says Petiot.