Hot Molecules Looking at new opportunities in biobased chemicals

Hot Molecules Looking at new opportunities in biobased chemicals

Our panelists David Dodds President, Dodds & Co. Ronald Cascone Principal, Nexant Paul Bryan Lecturer, UC-Berkeley

Akermin Akermin is developing a novel solution to efficiently remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial gas streams using biocatalysis and nanotechnology. The Company uses a multi-disciplined approach to integrate enzymes within proprietary delivery systems that can be readily incorporated into conventional processes for CO2 removal using chemical absorption. Last year, Akermin announced that it has received a $3 million cooperative agreement to support development of the technology for post-combustion CO2 removal from power plants. The work under this program will build off of Akermin s current field pilot that has now accrued over 2,800 hours of operation, consistently capturing over 80% CO2, with no degradation in performance and no biocatalyst replenishment. The new funding will be used to develop and test Akermin s second generation approach using a simple and cost-effective design enabled by its proprietary Biocatalyst Delivery System. The goal is to demonstrate that the approach can be applied to capture CO2 using less energy, in a process that has lower capital and operating costs. The development target is to capture CO2 from large industrial processes at a cost that will economically enable various CO2 utilization options, including Enhanced Oil Recovery.

Avantium Avan%um develops and commercializes next genera%on biobased plas%cs and chemicals.. The company has established over the years a leading market posi%on in providing advanced catalysis services and systems to companies in the oil, gas, chemical and renewable sector. From 2005 onwards, Avan%um has developed a proprietary technology to produce Furanics building blocks from plant based sugars, under the name YXY. These Furanics building blocks are the basis of a next- genera%on plant- based plas%cs and chemicals. The YXY technology is a 2-step chemical, catalytic process to convert sugars to Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a biobased alternative to terephthalic acid (TA). Avantium focuses its efforts on using FDCA to produce the polyester, Polyethylene-furanoate (PEF), a 100% biobased material that could replace Polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) in large markets such as bottles, fiber and film. Business Model: Avantium s strategy is to build and operate the first commercial production plant to enable the commercial launch of PEF bottles by its development partners including The Coca-Cola Company and Danone. Subsequent to the demonstration of its YXY technology at commercial scale, Avantium intends to sell licenses to chemical and polymer companies to monetize this proprietary technology platform. Past Milestones (2009-2012): Closing of EUR 30 million financing in June 2011 led by Sofinnova Partners Construction pilot plant at Chemelot in Geleen, The Netherlands Successful start-up of the pilot plant Signing of Joint Development Partnerships with The Coca Cola Company and Danone for the development of 100% biobased PEF bottles Joint development agreements with Solvay and Rhodia for the development of FDCA based polyamides Competitive Edge(s): The current process yield of Avantium s YXY technology will allow competing on basis of price and performance with petroleum-based chemicals

Borregaard Borregaard operates the world's most advanced biorefinery, and produces advanced biochemicals, biomaterials and ethanol to replace oil-based products. The Borregaard Group has 1050 employees in 16 countries. Last April Norwegian Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen officially inaugurated the Borregaard biorefinery demonstration plant in Sarpsborg, which will produce green chemicals and sugars based on biomass from wood and agricultural and forestry waste. The demonstration plant, called Biorefinery Demo, started preliminary operations in summer 2012, followed by normal operations in the 1st quarter of 2013. The plant relies on Borregaard s proprietary BALI technology and is a continuation of today s biorefinery concept. The aim is cost-effective and sustainable production of lignin and bioethanol from new raw materials. BALI technology involves converting the cellulose fibres in biomass to sugars that can be used for the production of second generation bioethanol, while other components of the biomass (lignin) become advanced biochemicals. In the demonstration plant the process will be upscaled by a factor of 1000 times in order to test and develop the technology moving towards full-scale production. The plant has so far processed over 100 tons of biomass. Construction of the demonstration plant has cost just under $24.4M (NOK 140 million), including $10.1M (NOK 58 million) from Innovation Norway s Environmental Technology Support Scheme.

Cobalt Technologies Cobalt Technologies is commercializing cellulosic biobutanol, a versatile platform molecule for the renewable chemicals and fuels. Th Company s technology efficiently converts diverse non-food feedstocks initially, lignocellulosic extracts from woody biomass and sugar cane bagasse into biobutanol. Cobalt will offer complete systems for sugar mill, pulp and paper, and biomass power facility retrofits with a cost-effective biorefinery module, taking advantage of benefits of co-location (feedstock supply, logistics, permits) while enhancing overall facility returns. Feedstock for the biorefinery will be low-value hemicellulose and cellulose extracted from bagasse or woody biomass, and other available low-cost feedstocks. Biobutanol can be used as is in paints, coatings and other chemical products, a 1.2 billion gallon, $7 billion global market. It can also be converted via known chemistry into a wide range of high value products, including 1-butene, isobutene and butyraledehyde derivatives, replacing petrochemicals and accessing a 67 billion gallon, $300 billion market, and full performance jet fuel and diesel. Biobutanol can also be blended with gasoline, diesel and ethanol to reduce emissions. Engineered to achieve low costs through high productivity, energy efficiency and the use of low-cost feedstock, Cobalt is making biobutanol and its derivatives a cost effective substitute to petroleum-based materials.

Global Bioenergies Global Bioenergies is developing a direct process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation. Since inception, the company focused its efforts on the production of isobutene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks that can be converted into fuels, plastics, organic glass and elastomers. Global Bioenergies announced in January that it will build a second industrial pilot on the site of the Leuna refinery, close to Leipzig in Germany. This second facility represents a 10X jump in scale from the company s first project, and will allow for a much purer isobutene product to be collected required for certain downstream applications such as butyl rubber polymerization. The pilot plant in Leuna will combine two 5,000 liter fermenters and a complete purification system, mimicking all aspects of a commercial scale plant. Designed for a production capacity of up to 100 tons per year, the isobutene produced in Leuna can be used for the fabrication of plastics, elastomers and fuels. This second pilot is the final step in Global Bioenergies development program before the full scale. In June 2013, Global Bioenergies had announced the launch of its first industrial pilot in the heart of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, close to Reims. This first pilot, to be run through a collaboration with Arkema and the CNRS, is supported by a EUR 5.2 million state financing through the French Investissements d Avenir program. This first industrial pilot will set the bases for large scale exploitation of the isobutene process in its application to methacrylics.

Green Biologics Green Biologics is focused on the production of renewable n-butanol and other C4 chemicals from various renewable feedstocks, including sugar (cane, molasses, beets), starch (corn) and cellulosic biomass (corn residues, sugar cane bagasse, forest materials and grasses). GBL has demonstrated significant improvements in fermentation performance and says we have the skills to deliver further improvements in strain and fermentation process performance for ABE and other renewable chemicals. The GBL technical program focuses on the production of low cost, high quality chemicals around a C4 platform. Leveraging a leadership position in Clostridia microbiology, biochemistry and fermentation, GBL develops microbes and processes that utilize sustainable and diverse feedstocks to produce a portfolio of valuable chemicals and future biofuels. While maximizing performance GBL focuses on minimizing environmental impact. Clostridia are well suited to commercial use for the production of industrial chemicals. Proven commercially for a century, they are robust, solvent tolerant and can utilize a variety of feedstocks and sugars including C5 and C6 monomers, dimers and some polymers. Most importantly more of the energy provided (in the form of sugars) is recovered in the form of usable products (solvents and energy) than is the case for most commercially utilized organisms, such as yeast.

Heliae Heliae develops advanced algae strains, production technology, and downstream processing equipment to optimize algae production for a range of product targets in the nutrition, therapeutics, agrosciences, health & beauty and specialty chemicals and fuels fields. Heliae offers clients access to its library of wild and enhanced algae strains, each selected and honed for key attributes to offer a wide range of product and service functionality. Heliae now offers a complete series of commercially-validated algae production systems including strain screening, in-situ mobile pilot systems, seed production units, and the Volaris production platform. Also, Heliae has developed comprehensive contamination management systems and protocols to catch contamination early and solve problems long before cultures crash, quality is degraded, and operational performance suffers. In January 2014, Heliae Development had booked $4.2 million in sales for their raceway-based algae growing technology in 2014, after recently completing a $13 million demonstration plant. Although the company has equipment on site to develop fuels from the algae, and the company has previously turned algae into jet fuel on site, Heliae is focusing on the growing side of the equation. The company brought in more than $1 million in revenue last year. In April 2013, Heliae entered into a distribution partnership with Evodos, a leader in the field of algae harvesting technology.

Itaconix The company develops, produces and sells new polymers made of itaconic acid using its patented polymer technologies. The company s first commercial product line, Itaconix DSP, are water-soluble polymers used in detergents and cleaners based on its chelation and dispersion properties. Itaconix offers polyitaconic acid products for use in detergents, water treatments, and other applications. Itaconix DSP polymers are sold to consumer and industrial detergent formulators as effective builders to replace phosphates, EDTA, citric acid and petroleumbased chemicals due totheir outstanding binding capacity, ready biodegradability, and favorable production from renewable resource. Itaconix sees a big potential for polyitaconic acid as effective builders in detergents and cleaners, but is also focusing on developing new products based on novel properties possible from polymers of itaconic acid. In 2009, Itaconix received a $2 million grant from the USDA to research and develop the use of wood biomass as a feedstock for fermenting itaconic acid. In 2011, the company received an SBIR research grant from NSF for the enzymatic production of itaconic acid. In 2012, the company received an SBIR research grant from NSF to produce novel latex polymers.

Micromidas Micromidas develops technologies to produce key intermediates and plastics from renewable, low value, non-food cellulosic materials such as Old Corrugated Cardboard ( OCC ), pulp and paper sludge, and other glucan sources. Micromidas has developed a process to convert a wide variety of carbohydrate feedstocks to higher value chemicals. Our goal is to produce both conventional and new, highly functional chemicals from biobased feestocks in a manner cost competitive with petrochemicals. The Micromidas process produces a series of furan intermediates from the dehydration of carbohydrate feedstocks such as cellulose and hemicellulose, which are then derivatized to chemicals such as para-xylene and toluene. In 2013, the company raised $13 million in its latest round of financing. That brings the total capital raised by the 4-yearold company to more than $20 million. The funding will enable Micromidas to build a demonstration-scale plant in West Sacramento. In September, the Michigan Molecular Institute, Michigan Sugar Company and Micromidas have partnered in a 9- month, $150,000 SBIR research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to create ways to convert sugar beet waste, or raffinate waste, into commodity chemicals.

OPX Biotechnologies The company is focused on developing microbes and bioprocesses that can cost effectively produce bio-based chemicals and fuels. The patented EDGE (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology enables OPXBIO to more rapidly engineer microbes and develop costeffective bioprocesses. The company is applying EDGE technology to the development and commercialization of BioAcrylic Acid and Specialty Fatty Acids using sugar feedstock. OPX is partnering with the Dow Chemical Company on BioAcrylic and Evonik Industries on Specialty Fatty Acid development. The novel, proprietary bioprocess is capable of producing specialty fatty acids and derivatives with specific carbon chain lengths from both sugar and syngas feedstocks. These products will replace fatty acids derived from natural oils, such as palm and coconut, in existing and new applications. Milestone goals through 2016 include completing large scale demonstration of the BioAcrylic process, confirming competitive economics and product performance; complete engineering of the first commercial scale BioAcrylic plant.