UK firm produces high-energy 'Hycadiesel'

Biorefining Magazine
By Luke Geiver September 13, 2011

Hycagen Ltd., a U.K.-based advanced biofuel startup, uses the same feedstocks traditionally used by the biodiesel industry, but Hycagen doesn’t make biodiesel. Formed in 2008 by three men who were also instrumental in the development of a successful biotechnology and pharmaceutical company called Chiroscience Plc, Hycagen produces a fuel they call Hycadiesel. The fuel is made using an enzymatic catalyst technology platform. According to Alan Roth, CEO and co-founder of the company, the process uses a hyperstabilized reusable lipase enzyme catalyst that assimilates the combined feedstocks into the Hycadiesel at mild temperatures, which, he adds, generates only the desired fuel with zero waste. “The only processing step required after the reaction is filtration of the catalyst for reutilization, and the fuel is ready for use as is,” Roth said.

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