New Generation Cellulose Ethanol Enzyme Preparation Comes Out Within Two Years

Wu Wenping, director of Novozymes (China) Research and Development Center, recently disclosed that in the next one to two years, the third-generation enzyme will come out.

However, for the issue of cost that the industry is most concerned about, that is, how the new generation of enzyme preparation can reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol, Wu Wenping did not provide specific data, but said that “its transformation efficiency will increase”.

Novozymes is the world's largest supplier of enzyme preparations. In February 2010, it launched the first enzyme product, Cellic CTec2, for the commercial mass production of cellulosic ethanol, making the cost of the enzyme required for producing one gallon of cellulosic ethanol only. 50 cents, which reduces the production cost of cellulosic ethanol to $2 per gallon, making cellulosic ethanol a highly competitive alternative to gasoline.

After our country has established the principle of developing fuel ethanol, which can't compete with the people for grain, and can't compete with grain, the cellulosic ethanol is considered to be a very suitable direction for the development of biofuels in China. Previously, the production of fuel ethanol using rice, corn and sorghum as raw materials has caused controversy. Some people believe that this practice has pushed up the price of food and triggered a food shortage.

In contrast, China can produce about 700 million tons of straw each year. These straws can be used as raw materials for cellulosic ethanol. At the same time, this will help solve the "three rural issues." Novozymes's research report with McKinsey shows that by 2020, the development of the cellulosic ethanol industry will bring at least 6 million jobs to China.

However, the various celluloses are decomposed and finally made into ethanol. The process is complicated and expensive, which has caused cellulosic ethanol to remain outside the door of large-scale commercialization. The current consensus among the scientific research community and industry is that the key to cellulosic ethanol's inability to industrialize is to get stuck in enzyme preparations.

Enzymes are proteins that exist in every living organism, human, animal, plant, and microbe. They are tools of nature. They have cutting and pasting functions that increase the rate of all important biological processes in the cell.

As a key ingredient for the production of cellulosic ethanol by fermentation, enzyme preparations can be used to degrade cellulose in biomass. After pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification, ethanol is produced by fermentation and added to gasoline at a certain blending ratio. It becomes ethanol gasoline. Therefore, a major breakthrough in the field of enzyme preparation technology has become the key to solving the dilemma of biofuels.

Novozymes began developing R&D products for the production of cellulosic ethanol in 2000, and twice received USD 29.3 million in project development grants from the US Department of Energy. With the technology reserves in the field of enzyme preparation research, Novozymes successfully reduced the cost of the enzymes needed to produce cellulosic ethanol by about 80% in the past two years to the current 50 cents/gal.

In 2010, Novozymes signed a memorandum with the COFCO Group and Sinopec Group on the industrialization of cellulosic ethanol, mainly providing enzyme preparations for COFCO and Sinopec's 10,000-ton-scale cellulose ethanol demonstration plant prepared from corn stover .

Novozymes official website shows that currently about 900 scientific research personnel of Novozymes, of which about 150 scientific research personnel are committed to the research and development of advanced biofuels, Wu Wenping's R & D center has a large part of the power to invest in research and development of biomass fuel ethanol. In 2010, Novozymes' R&D expenditure accounted for approximately 14% of sales (DKK 150 million).

"Cellulase, we have now seen hope." Wu Wenping said, "In the next one to two years, the third-generation enzyme will come out." However, Wu Wenping did not disclose more about this enzyme that is being developed. The details just mean that it will increase the efficiency of the conversion.

Many reporters called Wu Wenping, but they failed to contact. Novozymes also said that only the economic data of the second-generation enzyme was known. The third-generation enzyme was not yet known.

"Wu Wenping is Novozymes China's top ranking executive ranking only after the president Ke Ming's senior figures, and his information should be reliable." An industry analyst said.

Matthew Carr, executive director of the Industry and Environment Department at the American Biotechnology Industry Organization, said that the cost of cellulosic ethanol has dropped by 80% from 2008 and is likely to drop by 90% in the next 5 years. It is estimated that the cost of cellulose production by 2011 will be reduced to less than US$ 2 per gallon.

"In this way, new cellulosic ethanol is very competitive compared to traditional petroleum and traditional corn fuel," Matthew Carr said.

Novozymes and McKinsey's research report described a good picture for the development of cellulosic ethanol: the development of cellulosic ethanol is an era demand, which can bring great social, environmental and economic benefits to China.

The report said that by 2020, cellulosic ethanol could replace 31 million tons of gasoline each year, reducing China’s oil imports by 10%, bringing 32 billion yuan in annual revenue, and creating 6 million jobs. Cellulosic ethanol can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 90 million tons annually and create favorable economic benefits.

In addition, the report believes that Chinese companies in the cellulose value chain will be the main beneficiaries, including the domestic engineering and construction market worth RMB 96 billion, and potential international markets.

According to an expert who was involved in the "12th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the biological industry, during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, China will increase the research and development of cellulosic genetic technology and strive to achieve a breakthrough in cellulase hydrolysis technology.

“Lignocellulosic ethanol, a revolutionary battle in the field of industrial biotechnology, is dawning ahead.” Wu Wenping said at the 5th China Bioindustry Conference in Shenzhen.