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Ceres and Novozymes team up on cellulosic biofuel crops

Ceres staff walk among sweet sorghum research plots in Texas

Energy crop developer Ceres, Inc., has teamed up with enzyme specialists Novozymes to pursue customized plant varieties and enzymes for cellulosic biofuel production.

California firm Ceres and Danish firm Novozymes said they expected the partnership to help improve the process of converting biomass into fuel.

The firms will work together to seek more effective enzymes to boost the conversion process, along with higher quality energy crops, to help boost fuel yields and lower costs for fuel producers.

Initial work will focus on the best enzyme cocktails to use for the biorefining of existing Ceres switchgrass varieties.

Similar evaluations will be carried out on sweet sorghum, to find plants that can be degraded more easily by Novozymes’ enzymes.

Energy crops like switchgrass, miscanthus and switchgrass can be grown in marginal areas not used for food crops, using less water and fertilizer than other potential energy crops.

The resulting cellulosic biofuels are seen as more environmentally-friendly than conventional biofuels made from food crops like corn or sugarcane.

“Commercial reality”

Cynthia Bryant, Global Biomass Business Development Manager of Novozymes, said of the partnership with Ceres: “This is an example of how technology providers from different parts of the value chain are coming together to make cellulosic biofuel a commercial reality.”

Spencer Swayze, senior manager of business development at Ceres, said breeding and genetic-modification techniques were allowing Ceres scientists to develop energy crops that minimize the components in biomass shown to decrease conversion rates and yields.

Relatively small percentages in efficiency improvements could result in “substantial” process and cost savings at a larger scale, he said.

He said: “I envision a day when we can approach conversion facilities and their feedstock suppliers with a complete package of tailored seed varieties and enzymes as well as crop management and processing recommendations.”