Could biofuels become more commercially viable?

Could biofuels become more commercially viable?

British roads could have cleaner emissions sooner than the industry originally thought if one company's claim is to be believed.

Biofuels company Novozymes says its new enzyme is five times more efficient than current technologies and will put biofuels in the same cost bracket as petrol, boosting the commercialisation of the technology.

Its newest innovation, Cellic CTec3 is one-and-a-half times more efficient than its last market-leading product and requires just one-fifth of the enzyme dose to convert biomass waste such as straw, corn stalks and household waste into ethanol.

Just 50 kilograms of the enzyzme is needed to make one ton of ethanol from biomass, compared to 250 kilograms of a competing enzyme.

"This is a huge step forward in the transition from an oil-based economy to a bio-based economy," commented Steen Riisgaard, chief executive of Novozymes.

"We will continue to develop more efficient enzymes to further reduce the total cost of producing advanced biofuels."

Such technology will help the UK meet its target to remove 80 per cent of carbon emissions by 2050.

Posted by Louise Clark