Amyris Wins Three-Year, Multi-Million-Dollar Contract from U.S. Department of Energy to Further Manufacturing of Cellulose-Derived Farnesene
Expected to Expand Global Availability of Farnesene for Variety of Applications
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), the industrial bioscience company, today announced that it has won a three-year multi-million dollar contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (‘DOE') to further the manufacturing of cellulose-derived farnesene for biofuels. Amyris, in cooperation with Renmatix and Total New Energies USA (‘Total'), will work to develop a manufacturing-ready process utilizing wood as the cellulosic feedstock to produce farnesene, a hydrocarbon building block used to manufacture a variety of products ranging from cosmetics to detergents, as well as base oils, lubricants, diesel and jet fuel.
"We're pleased to partner with Renmatix and Total in furthering the advancement of cellulose-derived farnesene," said John Melo, President & CEO of Amyris. "Success in this project could enable farnesene cost below $1 a liter, which will deliver breakthrough results in a variety of products, including biofuels, while at the same time leveraging the existing large forestry infrastructure to utilize renewable wood sources and wood waste as a sugar source to produce it."
Advancements in the use of cellulosic materials as a source of low-cost sugars for fermentation are anticipated to bring down the cost of production and has the potential to increase geographical distribution of manufacturing plants, especially in rural areas in need of new economic opportunities. The goal of this project is to produce farnesene at the same projected cost of current farnesene produced from sugarcane syrup. This would expand the global availability of farnesene in general, as well as increase the number of potential product applications for which this building block can be used.
