Program Description (PDF)
Dupont Bio-Based Materials is leading a consortium, known as the Integrated Corn-Based BioRefinery (ICBR) program, to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of producing biofuels from renewable resource technology. The goal of the program, which was initiated in 2003, is to develop a cost-effective process to convert corn and other biomass feedstocks to sugars for production of biofuels, such as ethanol, and other value-added chemicals.
Given tight energy supplies and increasing world-wide demand for fossil fuels, there is a growing need to develop economical alternative sources of fuels.
Verenium's role in this six-year alliance is to discover and develop novel biocatalysts for the production of fuel ethanol, DuPont Bio-PDO™ for textiles and other applications, and a range of value-added chemicals from renewable resources. The performance of current enzymes available for this application from other sources falls well short of providing the economics needed for practical energy solutions.
As the leader of a $38 million consortium to develop an integrated biorefinery, DuPont will receive $19 million in matching funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over four years. Verenium receives research funding from DuPont and is entitled to milestone payments and royalties on any new products developed under the collaboration.
In addition to Verenium, which offers enzyme development expertise, and DuPont, which offers chemical and engineering expertise, other members of the consortium include Deere & Company, offering world-class expertise in agronomic systems analysis and material processing, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is world-renowned for its expertise in biomass conversion, and Professor Bruce Dale, Ph.D., a biomass expert from Michigan State University, who will address life-cycle analysis.
In July 2005, Verenium announced that it had successfully delivered to DuPont Bio-Based Materials a set of candidate enzymes under the companies’ ICBR program that exceed the initial performance targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which were established by comparison to the performance of existing commercial enzymes for biomass conversion. This achievement triggered two milestone payments to Verenium totaling over $500,000 -- one for meeting the DOE requirements and a second for substantially exceeding the DOE requirements.
Based on Verenium’s successful enzyme development activities, the program has advanced to the next phase, which is focused on achieving key economic objectives.
Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel. For more information visit www.dupont.com.
