Improved Biomass Deconstruction Technologies Will Speed the Use of Non-Food Feedstocks as a Source of Cost-Effective, Infrastructure-Compatible Renewable Biofuels
Virent Energy Systems, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a $33.8 million grant to the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC). The NABC aims to develop technologies to convert cellulosic biomass feedstocks into hydrocarbon fuels that are sustainable, cost-effective, and compatible with existing infrastructure.
The funding will enhance Virent’s on-going efforts to break down cellulosic biomass into sugars that can be further processed into biofuels that are cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels. Virent’s innovative BioForming® conversion process utilizes both conventional and non-food plant sugars, although fuels made from non-food sugars are not currently cost-competitive.
…Virent’s work in cellulosic pre-treatment and deconstruction initially began in 2007 with a two million dollar Advanced Technology Program grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The award announced today will specifically fund Virent’s investigations of pretreatment strategies for releasing sugars from biomass and improved catalysts for the conversion of biomass-derived sugars to hydrocarbons as well as the process and engineering design to integrate these improved technologies with Virent’s BioForming process. READ MORE
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