University of Maryland research that started with bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to the development of a bacterium, called Saccharophagus degradans which can break down almost any source of biomass, or plant life, into sugars, which can then be converted into ethanol and other biofuels.
That process, developed by University of Maryland professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, professors of cell biology and molecular genetics, is the foundation of their incubator company Zymetis.
They discovered how to produce the enzyme in their own laboratories. The result was Ethazyme, a bacterium that creates a mixture of enzymes—through a patent-pending system which degrades the tough cell walls of cellulosic materials into bio-fuel ready sugars in one step, which are then converted into ethanol and other biofuels at a significantly lower cost and with fewer caustic chemicals than current methods.
“We believe we have the most economical way to produce biofuels from cellulosic material”
-- Steve Hutcheson, CEO of Zymetis Inc.
The company’s process is less expensive than alternative methods of ethanol production, including other cellulosic ethanol production processes. According to Zymetis, their enzymes have the potential to decrease the cost of cellulosic ethanol production by as much as 33%, making it competitive with gasoline.
Zymetis has also developed enzyme technologies that can be sold to existing corn-based ethanol plant operators today to improve both their profitability and yield by more efficiently using the feedstock.
Zymetis is also working with a waste paper processing facility to turn scrap fiber into ethanol. This work could result in a full-scale production facility by the end of the year—a drastic difference from the projected five-year development time for other enzyme-based cellulosic ethanol facilities.
There seems to be nearly as many cellulosic ethanol processes as there are hydrogen storage materials - too many to keep track of. This one seems to have promise by reducing the number of steps in the process and apparently having found a low cost enzyme. If they can produce the waste paper processing plant by the end of the year, they will have found something of great value.