Ceres and CHOREN Assess Energy Crops for Thermochemical Production of Biofuels

PR Newswire

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. announced today that it is working with CHOREN, an international leader in Biomass to Liquids technology, to optimize energy crops for thermochemical conversion to advanced low-carbon biofuels. The two-year bioenergy project is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The thermochemical process does not require enzymes or microorganisms; instead, the biomass is gasified under certain heat and pressure conditions producing synthesis gas, a carbon monoxide and hydrogen-rich gas that can be converted into high quality synthetic fuels, intermediate chemicals or electricity.

In its role, Ceres will evaluate the composition of a broad range of switchgrass and willow plants, and provide biomass samples to CHOREN for thermochemical processing. The results will be used to identify the most relevant compositional traits, and later, to select the plants and traits that improve conversion and maximize fuel yields.

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