Biofuels enzyme collaboration receives funding

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has awarded enzyme company Novozymes and biotechnology provider MBI $2.5 million (€ 1.8 million) to develop new enzyme-based technologies to convert corn stover into sugars for subsequent conversion into biofuels.

The collaboration aims to tailor enzymes for MBI’s AFEX-treated biomass, which will in turn enables the production of low-cost fermentable sugars.

‘There are two major challenges in converting agricultural biomass into biobased products,’ says Allen Julian, MBI chief business officer. ‘One is the challenge of handling, storing and hauling low-density biomass to the refinery, the other being the challenge of breaking down the biomass cost-effectively into its constituent sugars.’

MBI previously won a $4.3 million DoE award to develop and scale up its AFEX technology and is currently completing the installation of a one tonne per day pilot-scale reactor at its Michigan facility.