Factory to produce diesel from sugarcane opens in Brazil
Thu 09 July 2009
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A large-scale facility to produce hydrocarbons from sugarcane has opened in Brazil. Owned by Amyris Biotechnologies, the plant uses engineers microbes to turn sugarcane juice into diesel and has a capacity of more than 10,000 gallons of fuel a year.
Amyris, which is based in Emeryville, California, says it hopes to take advantage of Brazil's existing biofuel infrastructure, which focuses on ethanol, to produce the new diesel product and other chemicals to sell in the country and possibly in the United States and Europe in 2011.
The company uses synthetic biology to reengineer microbes, including yeast that can ferment sugar to produce hydrocarbons instead of ethanol. Rather than licensing its hydrocarbon-producing yeast to another company, Amyris plans to purchase sugar mills and convert them in order to use its microbes to produce fuels and other chemicals.
The company's diesel fuel is claimed to work in modern engines and matches the performance of petroleum diesel. The biggest expense in making the fuel is the feedstock, which is why Amyris says it chose Brazil and sugarcane instead of corn and the United States.
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