Ceres' sweet sorghum hybrids processed into diesel by Amyris

Energy crop company Ceres has announced its improved sweet sorghum hybrids have been successfully processed into renewable diesel by Amyris.

The pilot-scale project evaluated both sugars and biomass from Ceres' sweet sorghum hybrids grown in Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The sorghum juice was first extracted from the stems of the plants and concentrated into sugar syrup by Ceres. Amyris then processed the syrup using its proprietary yeast fermentation system that converts plant sugars into its trademarked product, biofene (commonly known as farnesene).

Furthermore, the inedible plant fibres of the sweet sorghum, known as cellulosic biomass or bagasse were converted into cellulosic sugars at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Amyris subsequently fermented this into renewable farnesene.

'The results from these evaluations confirmed that the Amyris No Compromise renewable diesel production process performs well across different sugar sources. Ceres' sweet sorghum hybrids produced sugars that yielded comparable levels of farnesene as sugarcane and other sugar sources Amyris has utilized,' says Todd Pray, Amyris director of product management. 'Sweet sorghum can provide timely feedstock flexibility with environmental benefits. We look forward to utilizing Ceres' sweet sorghum in our commercial-scale production facilities.'

Ceres first commercialized its improved hybrids in Brazil this season. This spring, Ceres also introduced its first two hybrids to supply larger-scale evaluations in the US.

The joint evaluation project was funded in part by a DOE Integrated Biorefinery grant awarded to Amyris. The grant included a sub-contract award to Ceres.