French government backs new green chemistry project linked to biofuels

Deinove, a technological company which designs, develops and markets industrial processes based on Deinococci bacteria, has revealed its plant chemistry development programme has been chosen by the French Enivronment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and the General Investment Commission.

The programme, called Deinochem, will aim to produce a new generation of chemical compounds which can be substituted for those which are traditionally petro-sourced. Using Deinococci bacteria, these new compounds will be made from non-food biomass such as wheat straw, corn stover and cobs, energy crops and industrial and urban waste.

The project will receive close to €6 million ($8 million) in funding from the French government.

‘This is one of the highest levels of financial backing ever granted in plant chemistry from the government. Our country has clearly placed biotechnologies at the heart of its industrial innovation programme,’ says Deinove CEO Emmanuel Petiot. ‘Plant chemistry has been considered a strategic sector for the inevitable shift in energy sources away from fossil fuels that pollute and are running out.’

On a global scale, green chemistry already constitutes a market of €100 billion and Deinove expects a sharp increase on that within the next few years.