French Biotech Signs Biofuels Deal with VT
Biométhodes, a French biotechnology company in Evry, has signed an exclusive and worldwide option-to-license agreement with Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc. (VTIP) for multiple technologies for converting biomass to bioethanol and biohydrogen.
The processes were invented by Percival Zhang, assistant professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech. An integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Virginia is envisioned to advance the process for the conversion of biomass into ethanol and valuable co-products, focusing especially on biomass pretreatment. The process for transformation of biomass into hydrogen will be developed in France and will be validated through a biohydrogen fuel cell prototype and small-scale model car.
Zhang developed a novel and innovative process for releasing sugars that can be fermented into ethanol from non-food sources into sugars that can be converted to ethanol. His process uses enzymes and mild and recyclable physicochemical conditions that do not require high pressure or high temperature. The gentle pretreatment process also results in no sugar degradation and separates other highly profitable products, such as lignin and acetic acid. “More revenues from lignocellulose components other than sugars would be vital to the success of biomass refineries,” said Zhang.
According to Gilles Amsallem, Biométhodes chief executive officer, “The pilot plant will integrate two major technologies - Virginia Tech’s pretreatment process, which breaks down the biomass, and Biométhodes’ hydrolysis enzyme optimization technology to improve the cellulose degradation into fermentable sugars.”
Locating the plant in Virginia will enhance the collaboration with Zhang as the process is optimized, Amsallem said. A United States-based plant is also important because, “In the United States, the time to market is shorter for ethanol,” said Amsallem. “The [United States] and Brazil already have first generation technologies based on ethanol as a fuel.”
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