Genomatica, a leader in sustainable chemicals, announced that it has successfully produced Bio-BDO from its first demonstration-scale fermentation, on schedule. The fermentation was performed in a 13,000 liter tank in Decatur, Ill., at the facility of partner Tate & Lyle. This achievement comes just three months after the partnership agreement was announced. Continued success during the demonstration-scale stage will validate the design and basic engineering package for construction of the first commercial-scale plant.<\/b><\/p>\n
“This marks another milestone on our rapid path to commercialization\u201d, said Christophe Schilling, CEO of Genomatica. “We expect to be in commercial production in late 2012, with world-scale plants in the U.S., Europe and Asia starting in 2014.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tate & Lyle, recognized leader in scale-up, confirms rapid progress and potential<\/b>
“We are very pleased with the rapid scale-up of the Bio-BDO demonstration project at our Decatur plant,\u201d said Matt Wineinger, President, Bulk Ingredients, Tate & Lyle. “The success of the first demonstration run is another important step toward Genomatica\u2019s commercialization of this product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Genomatica progress recognized by DOE grant and at major conference and peer-reviewed science journal<\/b><\/p>\n
Genomatica\u2019s progress has been repeatedly recognized in recent days, including:<\/p>\n
– Winning a Department of Energy grant<\/a>, to convert biomass to BDO.<\/p>\n – An invitation for CEO Schilling to speak at the Reuters 2011 Global Energy & Climate Change Summit<\/a> in Houston on June 13th. This marked the first time a sustainable chemicals company has been invited to a Reuters Summit, where Schilling joined a list of high-profile industry executives, including David Weidman, CEO, Celanese, and Jim Gallogly, CEO, LyondellBasell, to brief business editors and reporters for the Reuters news service. <\/p>\n – Publication of a feature article on Genomatica\u2019s technology in the peer-reviewed Nature Chemical Biology<\/a>, reflecting a level of broad significance and meeting the high standards for publication in scientific journals from the Nature Publishing Group. The article describes Genomatica\u2019s accomplishment – the first time that BDO, a major industrial chemical that is produced and sold in billions of pounds per year, has been made directly by a biological organism from renewable carbohydrate feedstocks.<\/p>\n In addition, at the recent BIO World Congress<\/a> conference in Toronto, Genomatica disclosed it had achieved a milestone 100 grams per liter (100 g\/L) in BDO production, more than five times greater than the result featured in the Nature Chemical Biology paper, providing a strong leading indicator of the superior economics Genomatica is planning to deliver. Additionally at the BIO conference, Genomatica spoke at a plenary session with partner Mitsubishi Chemical; introduced another plenary session; and participated in three panel sessions, including one that presented an example of a complete renewables-based value chain, with Ford, SABIC, and partner Tate & Lyle. <\/p>\n About Genomatica<\/b> Genomatica is in demonstration-scale production<\/a> of its first product, Bio-BDO<\/a>, through a strategic partnership with Tate & Lyle<\/a>. BDO, an intermediate chemical with a $4 billion market worldwide, is used to make spandex, automotive plastics, running shoes and more. <\/p>\n Genomatica\u2019s integrated bio-process engineering platform and extensive intellectual property allow it to rapidly develop organisms and processes to produce dozens of the highest-volume intermediate and basic chemicals from renewable feedstocks, like sugars, and later, from biomass and syngas. <\/p>\n
Genomatica is a leader in sustainable chemicals: \u2018greener\u2019 intermediate and basic chemicals made from renewable feedstocks, rather than oil and gas. The company aims to transform the chemical industry by making the exact same high-volume products at the heart of the trillion-dollar industry, but with better economics and a smaller environmental footprint. Genomatica was named one of \u201810 Big Green Ideas\u2019 by Newsweek<\/a>, and was featured on Forbes.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n