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US and Brazil companies form ethanol joint venture
2nd May, 2008
US company Amyris Biotechnologies and Brazilian sugar and ethanol group Crystalsev have formed a joint venture to produce and sell the first commercial diesel made from sugarcane instead of oilseeds like soy and canola.
The first product, a renewable diesel that works in vehicle engines, is targeted for commercialisation in 2010. Scale-up and testing work to date indicate that this fuel scales more quickly and economically than currently available biofuels, and reduces emissions by 80% over petroleum diesel.
Using Amyris' technology platform, the new joint venture, Amyris-Crystalsev Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Biocombustiveis Ltda, will work with Brazilian sugarcane mills and fuel producers to quickly scale production of the Amyris renewable diesel fuel. Amyris will hold the majority stake in the Amyris-Crystalsev venture, and Crystalsev will hold the remaining stake and contribute commercialisation expertise.
Santelisa Vale, the second largest ethanol and sugar producer in Brazil and majority owner of Crystalsev, has contracted to provide two million tonnes of sugarcane crushing capacity and plans to adopt the new technology beginning at its flagship mill - Santelisa. Santelisa Vale will also provide technical and engineering expertise to accelerate development and scale-up of the Amyris fuel.
'This partnership represents a historic first for the global transportation fuels industry,' John Melo, CEO of Amyris, says. 'By securing a significant supply of the most sustainable feedstock and collaborating with our world renowned partners Crystalsev and Santelisa, we now have the ability to take our pioneering technology out of the lab and rapidly scale production toward supplying the needs of the worldwide renewable fuels market.'
The new fuels can be readily produced in existing ethanol facilities with limited manufacturing changes, which enables rapid adoption and a cost effective platform.
Amyris-Crystalsev plans to market its renewable fuels worldwide, with initial focus on Brazil and the US. As part of the scale up process, in June the partners will open R&D headquarters in Campinas.
