Ceres Sweet Sorghum Hybrids Processed by Amyris

The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch
May 3, 2012, 8:30 a.m. EDT

Pilot project validates U.S.-produced sweet sorghum as a potential feedstock for advanced biofuels and bio-products.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., May 03, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Conversion efficiency of sweet sorghum sugars were similar to sugarcane.

Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. /quotes/zigman/8673708/quotes/nls/cere CERE -4.80% today announced its improved sweet sorghum hybrids were successfully processed into renewable diesel by Amyris, Inc. /quotes/zigman/117914/quotes/nls/amrs AMRS -6.36% under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant. Amyris is expected to present a summary of the results this afternoon at the 34th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The pilot-scale project evaluated both sugars and biomass from Ceres' sweet sorghum hybrids grown in Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana and Tennessee. To process the sugars that accumulate in the plants, known as free or soluble sugars, the sorghum juice was first extracted from the stems and concentrated into sugar syrup by Ceres. The syrup was then processed by Amyris at its California pilot facility using its proprietary yeast fermentation system that converts plant sugars into its trademarked product, Biofene, a renewable hydrocarbon commonly known as farnesene, which can be readily processed into renewable fuels and chemicals.

Read more