DuPont lets engineering contract for Iowa cellulosic ethanol project

Oil&GasJournal
HOUSTON, July 6, 2012
by OGJ editors

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) let a contract to KBR for engineering and procurement services for DuPont’s first cellulosic ethanol plant, which is to be built in Nevada, Iowa.

DDCE, a DuPont subsidiary under the DuPont Industrial Biosciences Group, already produces cellulosic ethanol at a precommercial plant in Vonore, Tenn.

The Iowa plant will be designed to process 1,300 tons/day of corn cobs, leaves, and stalks to produce 27.5 million gal/year of ethanol, which would be blended into gasoline to help US fuel manufacturers fulfill federal requirements, KBR said

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DDCE re-named Dupont Cellulosic Ethanol; taps Mirshak as new chief

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane November 16, 2011

In Iowa, DuPont Industrial Biosciences announced today management changes to its cellulosic ethanol business, formerly known as DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE).

Steven J. Mirshak has been named business director, DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol. He was most recently the president of DuPont Tate and Lyle Bio Products, a joint venture between DuPont and Tate and Lyle in Loudon, Tenn. In his new role, Mirshak remains in Tennessee and will leverage his experience in commercializing biobased products to spur the development and production of cellulosic ethanol.

Joe Skurla, former CEO of DDCE, will be retiring at the end of the year.

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Novozymes Wins $18.3 Million in Danisco Trial Over Enzymes

Bloomberg
By Susan Decker and Gelu Sulugiuc - Oct 27, 2011 9:14 AM CT .

Novozymes A/S, the world’s largest maker of industrial enzymes, said it won a U.S. trial in which a jury ordered DuPont Co.’s Danisco unit to pay $18.3 million for infringing a patent related to biofuel production.

Danisco, the biggest maker of food additives and second- largest industrial enzyme producer, was found to have willfully infringed the patent, a finding that may raise the damages award, Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novozymes said in a statement. DuPont, which bought Danisco in June, said it plans to appeal.

Novozymes sued Copenhagen-based Danisco last year in federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, accusing the company of taking its technology on an alpha amylase enzyme that remains active in high temperatures. The companies make substances that break down organic materials such as grain and corn to form an alternative to fossil fuels. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in July that some Danisco products infringed the patent.

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Danisco vs. Novozymes patent infringement case will go to court

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Holly Jessen February 11, 2011

A U.S. District judge ruled that Danisco A/S didn’t prove that a Novozymes patent is invalid, meaning the case will go to trial in October.

Judge Barbara Crabb of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin denied Danisco’s motion for a summary judgment Feb. 4. “The defendants have not met their burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the ‘723 patent is invalid as a matter of law,” she said. She adds that it’s not without hesitation that she is denying the motion, still doubting if the patent adequately describes Novozymes product.

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Update on DDCE Cellulosic Ethanol Projects

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Joanna Schroeder – February 4th, 2011

Two and a half years ago DuPont partnered with Danisco (whom DuPont is now acquiring) to create DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE). In just a short amount of time, the venture has come a long way in bringing cellulosic fuels closer to commercial scale. During the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s (IRFA) annual conference, Kyle Althoff, DDCE’s Director of feedstock development gave an update on where the company was in the process of pilot to commercial scale fuels.

The company is currently focusing on two feedstocks: stover in the Midwest and switchgrass in a partnership with University of Tennessee. Today, DDCE is looking for cost-effective biochemical solutions to convert those feedstocks into fuels, chemicals and biofuel products. They currently have a 250,000 gallon demonstration plant near Vonore, TN up and operating and they plan on having a commercial scale plant in operation by 2013. It looks like the future site of that plant may be in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

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DuPont buys Danisco, no changes expected for cellulosic project

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Kris Bevill January 10, 2011

Global science-based products and services company DuPont says it will pay nearly $6 billion to acquire enzyme and specialty food ingredient manufacturer Danisco. The purchase agreement, announced by DuPont Jan. 9, is expected to close in the second quarter. DuPont has agreed to pay Danisco $5.8 billion in cash and assume $500 million of its net debt. DuPont will provide approximately $3 billion of the acquisition with existing cash. The company will finance the remainder of the purchase, it said.

DuPont said the acquisition of Danisco will establish it as a leader in industrial biotechnology, particularly in the areas of food production and alternative fuels. “Biotechnology and specialty food ingredients have the potential to change the landscape of industries, such as substituting renewable materials for fossil fuel processes and addressing food needs in developing economies, that will generate more sustainable solutions and create growth for the company,” DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman said.

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Switchgrass — growing a new cash crop

knoxvillebiz.com
By Larisa Brass
Knoxville News Sentinel
Posted January 9, 2011 at midnight

East Tennessee farmers' first switchgrass harvest ready to turn into biofuel
When Blount County farmer John Davis decided to enter the switchgrass business, he did so with some trepidation.

"I'm a cautious individual," said Davis, who last year planted the native grass on less than an eighth of his family farm through a contract with Genera Energy, which is working with more than 60 East Tennessee farmers to grow the up-and-coming bioenergy crop. He also wasn't sure he could part ways with the beef cattle business he'd been in all his life, even though, with today's production costs, the farm was barely breaking even.

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Iowa Could Land Another Cellulosic Ethanol Refinery

Missouri Ruralist

Two companies, DuPont and Danisco, have formed a joint venture to explore the possibility of building a facility to manufacture cellulosic ethanol. They are considering central Iowa as one of the places to locate the biorefinery, according to information from the Iowa Economic Development Board.

DuPont and Danisco's Genencor division are considering several locations in Iowa and the Midwest for the new commercial cellulosic fuel ethanol refinery. A company spokeswoman declined to say which towns and states are being considered, as DuPont and Danisco are still in the site investigation phase.

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