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Xethanol Reports Improved Rate and Yield for Cellulosic Ethanol in USDA Lab
15 January 2008
Research work at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) of the US Department of Agriculture in Madison, Wisconsin laboratory is showing a 22% improvement in the rate of ethanol production from xylose wood sugar and an 11% increase in yield as compared to the control strain of yeast, according to Xethanol, the corporate sponsor of the research.
In 2005, Xethanol Corporation acquired Xylose Technologies, Inc. (XTI), which held a license for a patented process to convert xylose into ethanol and xylitol. This technology was developed by researchers at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin.
Xethanol is proceeding with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with FPL to engineer genetically modified yeasts that will substantially increase fermentation time of such feedstocks such as xylose to produce either ethanol or xylitol.
Xethanol’s portfolio contains a number of patents and research agreements. These agreements include scientific research arrangements with institutions including the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado; Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia; the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Winter Haven, Florida; and the Energy and Environmental Research Lab in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
January 15, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: sulleny | January 15, 2008 at 02:27 PM
Maybe they mean that you can get a higher alcohol level before the process stops.
Posted by: sjc | January 15, 2008 at 06:04 PM
I also would interpret that to mean that you can run a single fermentation for longer (at at least the same rate of ethanol production) so less time is spent on tank turnaround and the distillation cost is lower because the ethanol concentration in the broth in higher.
Posted by: Andrew | January 17, 2008 at 06:16 AM
@sulleny & the rest...
Read that posting again. There was a 22% improvement in the rate of production (which amounts to a decrease of fermentation time) and 11% improvement in yield (amount produced). I'd suggest that you regard any mention of an increase in fermentation time as a TYPO.
Posted by: Jacob | January 21, 2008 at 01:27 AM
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"genetically modified yeasts that will substantially increase fermentation time of such feedstocks..."
Call me crazy but don't they wanna decrease the fermentation time???