NY Times: what may come as welcome news to oil companies that are paying penalties for failing to use cellulosic ethanol — a biofuel that, commercially speaking, does not yet exist — a big producer of industrial enzymes has developed an enzyme that can help wring more ethanol out of cellulose at a lower cost.
The company, Novozymes, already makes enzymes used to make numerous products, including household detergents, soft drinks and stonewashed denim. It plans to announce the new enzyme, Cellic CTec3, on Wednesday in advance of the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Fla.
To make cellulosic fuel, biomass — wheat straw, wood chips, cornstalks, household waste or nonfood crops like switchgrass — are broken down into a pulp, then mixed with enzymes to produce sugar. That is then fermented with yeast to become a liquid fuel that burns cleaner than petroleum-based gasoline.