Qteros changes leadership, continues technology development

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Kris Bevill November 18, 2011

Massachusetts-based cellulosic ethanol technology developer Qteros Inc. has laid off a number of employees, including CEO John McCarthy, but is still operating and continuing to focus on developing its technology platform, according to new CEO Mick Sawka.

Sawka joined Qteros as vice president of commercial development in February 2010 and served most recently as the company’s senior vice president of commercial development and engineering before accepting his new role of CEO on Nov. 15. Sawka was unable to comment on the reasons for the layoffs or the exact number of employees laid off, but said, “All companies follow their own unique paths. Qteros is no exception.”

The basis for Qteros’ consolidated bioprocessing technology platform is the Q microbe, a microorganism that is not only capable of digesting a variety of biomass feedstocks but that also naturally produces ethanol. In January, India-based engineering firm Praj Industries Ltd. signed a strategic partnership with Qteros to commercialize cellulosic ethanol facilities using Qteros technology within the next two years. Sawka said the partnership with Praj is unchanged and the company is still devoted to developing its technology for commercial application. “As far as options, like any company, we’re always looking at how best to maximize return for our shareholders,” he said. Addressing rumors that a sale of the company is eminent, Sawka said a strategic sale is “always an option,” but the company believes that the best way to maximize its shareholders’ return on investment currently is to continue developing its platform.

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Why does the QMicrobe get 30% more ethanol out of certain Brachypodium perennial grasses?

Biofuels Digest
Isabel Lane June 13, 2011

In Massachusetts, a new five-year $750,000 Early Career Research grant from the DOE aims to determine the genetic mechanism that enables certain strains of the Q Microbe to produce up to 30 percent more ethanol from energy crop model system Brachypodium than other strains.. Samuel Hazen received one of 65 awarded grants from the DOE.

The project will test UMass Amherst’s “Q Microbe”, which was discovered by UMass professor Sue Leschine and forms the original technology platform for Qteros, with hundreds of strains of Brachypodium, to determine the highest-yielding, most efficient variants for energy production. “The goal is to identify the genetic mechanisms that confer these advantages and translate that knowledge into energy crop development,” said Hazen.

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Qteros CEO John McCarthy offers space in new Chicopee plant for biofuel start-ups

Boston Business Journal The Republican Published: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 1:34 PM Updated: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 11:35 PM By KYLE ALSPACH, Boston Business Journal With the major costs associated with proving out new biofuels technologies, John McCarthy says he’s seen a number of Massachusetts startups in the space enticed to do larger-scale work in other states. McCarthy, CEO of Marlborough-based cellulosic ethanol firm Qteros Inc., wants to help remediate that with his company’s new fermentation facility in Chicopee, expected to open during the second quarter. The company plans to use just about a third of the 15,000-square-foot facility for itself, and believes the rest should be developed for use by other Bay State biofuels firms - ideally with state government backing. Read more

Qteros and Praj Partner to Accelerate Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol

Environmental Protection
Jan 10, 2011

The partnership hopes to deliver create integrated engineering design packages for low-cost production of ethanol from non-food-based feedstocks.

Qteros Inc., the developer of an efficient consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) platform for low-cost production of cellulosic ethanol, and Praj Industries Ltd., a developer of technology and engineering solutions for producing biofuels and biochemicals, have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate commercialization efforts for industrial-scale cellulosic ethanol production. The agreement will leverage Qteros' CBP platform with Praj's research capabilities and its technology, process design, engineering, and construction expertise to deliver fully integrated engineering design packages for the low-cost production of ethanol from a broad variety of non-food-based feedstocks.

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Marlboro’s Qteros wins patent for plant-to-ethanol process

BostonHerald.com (Business)
By Christine McConville
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Qteros Inc. of Marlboro has just received approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its Q Microbe process for turning plant waste into biofuel.

The Q Microbe was discovered by UMass-Amherst professor Susan Leschine and research associate Thomas Warnick during a walk near the Quabbin Reservoir.

In discovering the natural bacteria, the scientists realized that cellulose can be converted to ethanol more quickly and more cheaply that previously thought.

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Sue Leschine fuels biomass-to-ethanol advancement

Boston Herald
By Helen Graves / Feature
Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Patience pays off – at least in the case of Sue Leschine and the Q Microbe™.

Leschine is the UMass Amherst microbiologist who, during her 20-plus years of research, discovered the microscopic but mighty organism.

She’s also a founder and chief scientist of Qteros, the Marlborough-based company turning the prospect of biomass-to-biofuel into commercial reality.

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Ethanol company claims breakthrough in making fuel from plant waste

USA Today
July 23, 2009


Ethanol hasn't exactly taken off as a fuel. The E85 movement, pushed by General Motors and other Detroit automakers, still has its critics because its production is heavily subsidized. Also, most ethanol is made out of corn, thus fuel competes with food.

But one ethanol company says it thinks it has achieved a research breakthrough. Using its own combination of microbes to break down plant material, Qteros, formerly SunEthanol, says it can make 100 gallons of ethanol out of a ton of corn stalks and other waste biomass. A year ago, the best the company could manage was about a fifth of that.

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