At Mascoma, wood and grass fuel the future

Boston Globe - boston.com
December 28, 2008

Termite gut and elephant stomach enzymes are among the ingredients researchers at the Boston-based biofuel company Mascoma Corp. are using to come up with a quicker, cheaper way to brew an environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline. Chief executive Bruce A. Jamerson recently sat down with Globe reporter Erin Ailworth, prior to a tour of a Mascoma lab in New Hampshire, to talk about the company's work.

It's nonfood plant material in two categories: woods and grasses. That's pretty much it. Now grasses include things like sugar cane, or we can use waste sugar cane, which is called bagasse. So that's after you squeeze the sugar and molasses out of it. It also includes things like cornstalks - once you remove the ears you have cornstalks and leaves. It includes other agricultural waste, like wheat straw after you remove the wheat. It includes prairie grasses.

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