Trillium FiberFuels, Oregon State University Get Grant for Advanced Biomass Enzymes
(Trillium FiberFuels Inc./Biorefining Magazine) A team of scientists from Trillium FiberFuels and Oregon State University has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the U.S. DOE to further develop innovative enzymes that could lead to new products from biomass and enhanced yields of cellulosic ethanol.
The award supports additional development of a unique enzyme called manganese peroxidase, which is capable of breaking down lignin, which interferes with ethanol production from biomass sugars but holds great potential to create biobased products such as adhesives.
“A low cost source of this enzyme will dramatically improve our ability to replace petroleum with biofuels and biobased products” said Chris Beatty, president of Trillium FiberFuels.
Initial work on the enzyme was done by Christine Kelly and Curtis Lajoie at OSU, with funding from several agencies, including a commercialization grant from Oregon BEST. READ MORE
