New Process Touted as Breakthrough for Cellulosic Ethanol

CleanTechnica.com
Written by Dave Tyler
Published on May 20th, 2009

Mascoma Corp. says it has found a way to remove several steps from the process of making cellulosic ethanol, cutting the cost and time it takes to make the fuel, while increasing yields.

The Lebanon, N.H.-based company says it has made advances in consolidated bioprocessing, a process that uses engineered microorganism to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass, such as grasses, stalks and wood waste. Mascoma’s CBP process eliminates the need to produce costly cellulase enzymes, by producing the cellulase and ethanol in a single step.

There are two parts to the advance, the company, which grew out of research conducted at Dartmouth College, said.

The first is the use of thermophilic bacteria, or bacteria that grow at high tempertures. Mascoma says it genetically modified a bacteria called Clostridium thermocellum, and was able to produce achieve a weight to volume ratio of 6 percent ethanol, a 60 percent increase over results from a year ago. Strains of the bacteria also helped reduce unwanted acid byproducts and can convert cellulose at a higher rate, without the help of cellulase.

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