Amyris and Total form biosolutions venture

In its latest move towards renewable energy, French oil and petrochemicals conglomerate Total has announced its entry into a joint venture with Calfornia-based biofuels company Amyris, forming Total Amyris BioSolutions.

The formation, a 50/50 JV, was announced in December. It now holds exclusive rights and a license under Amyris' intellectual property to produce and market renewable diesel and jet fuel from Amyris' renewable farnesene. Total is Amyris' largest investor, holding approximately 18% of its outstanding common stock.

'The joint-venture Total Amyris Biosolutions is a first step towards the commercialisation of our renewable diesel and jet fuels,' says Philippe Boisseau, president, marketing and services and new energies, and a member of Total's executive committee. 'We are in the phase of scaling-up the industrial process and we expect to start commercialisation within the next few years, once our joint research and development goals are met. As far as commercialisation is concerned, the new joint venture will benefit from the know-how and customer access of Total, which operates in more than 130 countries and is aiming to become a key supplier in renewable fuels.'

'The formation of this joint venture, anticipated by our streamlined collaboration agreement signed last year, paves the way for us to initiate our fuels commercialisation efforts globally, building on Amyris' experience with renewable diesel in Brazil and the growing demand for lower-emission jet fuels worldwide,' says John Melo, president and CEO of Amyris. 'Total has been a strategic partner for Amyris for the past three years and a model of how global companies can leverage our inspired science to deliver sustainable solutions for a growing world.'

Amyris has developed advanced microbial engineering and screening technologies that modify the way microorganisms process sugars. It is using this industrial synthetic biology platform to design microbes, primarily yeast, and use them as living factories in established fermentation processes to convert plant-sourced sugars into renewable chemical and transportation fuel products.

The company says this technology may help make it possible for producers to blend renewable hydrocarbons produced from sustainable biomass and organic waste into conventional fuel, in significant proportions. Renewable fuels developed by Total and Amyris may deliver energy density and engine performance comparable to the best petroleum fuels.

Amyris operates laboratories and a pilot plant in California as well as an industrial-scale facility located in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It supplies renewable fuels in Brazil, including diesel to more than 300 public transit buses in large metropolitan areas and also plans to initiate sales of renewable jet fuel in Brazil once it achieves ASTM validation.

Detailed information regarding the terms of the collaboration and funding structure can be found in Amyris' SEC filings.