Deinove, Paris has announced that its R&D team and its partners in the DEINOL program isolated and optimized a strain of Deinococcus bacteria able to generate ethanol from wheat-based biomass. With production of an alcohol content of more than 3%, DEINOL exceeded its goal for this proof of concept milestone.
Deinove's Deinococcus bacteria can degrade complex biomass residues into simple sugars and convert them into ethanol, all in a single process and without additives (such as enzymes, yeast or antibiotics).
This successful milestone triggers the payment of 1.15 million Euros to Deinove by the French ministry of industry (OSEO, ISI - Industrial Strategic Innovation - program).
World First: A Deinove bacteria transforms biomass into 2nd generation bioethanol This breakthrough using Deinococcus bacteria could be the solution to a global issue: replacing fossil fuel with a fuel from nonfood biomass.
While bioethanol production is currently limited to food biomass and utilizes archaic methods based on multiple stage and fermentation using yeast, this "all-in-one" bacterial factory, developed by Deinove, should make possible the use of non-food biomass (agricultural waste, plant biomass...) using more efficient, cost-effective and cleaner processes.
"Our results confirm the value of the technology for transforming biomass into biofuels and industrial products. Deinove's teams and our partners are proud of this breakthrough. Deinococcus can degrade more than 80% of the plant biomass but can also potentially produce industrial quantities of bioethanol," says Deinove's CEO Jacques Biton. He adds "We are now entering the pre-industrial phase of the DEINOL project."
"Second generation bioethanol is everyone's goal that is still waiting for its manufacturing standard," pointed out Philippe Pouletty, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Deinove. "DEINOL's results show that Deinove and its first industrial partner Tereos are at the forefront of this global race for a bioethanol manufacturing standard, vital for the future of our planet."