SunEthanol Wins Grant to Develop Ethanol Made from Non-food Plant Materials

May 17, 2008 – Vol.13 No.8

SunEthanol Wins Grant to Develop Ethanol Made from Non-food Plant Materials.

This third grant from the US Department of Energy will support SunEthanol as it pioneers a novel process that simplifies the production of clean ethanol fuel from two complex steps, hydrolysis and fermentation, into one simple step.

The company's patented process, known as Complete Cellulose Conversion or "C3," will be cheaper than the current process that uses enzymes to convert corn starch to fuel. Relying on a unique microbe discovered in Massachusetts, the Q Microbe (tm). SunEthanol's C3 process has the potential to be the ultimate low-cost configuration for cellulosic ethanol technology, according to the company.

This $100,000 grant is a nine-month, Phase I "SBIR/STTR" (Small Business Innovation Research) project. It consists of five tasks planned as a collaborative effort between three organizations: SunEthanol, Texas A&M University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).

SunEthanol, of Hadley, Massachusetts, is partnering with leading industry and R&D partners to develop and implement its technology platform, which is projected to produce transportation fuels using regionally available fuel feedstocks, including wood chips, recycled newspapers, and many others. (5/16/08)

Links:

SunEthanol
http://www.sunethanol.com

Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: No