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Microbiogen Australia
Microbiogen- Providing a solution to the world’s fuel vs food crisis
One of the major problems with modern ethanol production is that the substrate used is food, such as corn, thus reducing the land available for human and animal food production.
Microbiogen has used its advanced breeding and screening techniques to develop new strains of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that solve this problem while improving the profitability of what is otherwise a low-margin production business. In addition to providing a more efficient ethanol production process through conversion of a higher proportion of the feedstock into ethanol, its yeast strains also produce a nutrient and protein-rich co-product (yeast biomass) that is suitable for inclusion in the food chain. The Microbiogen yeast and fermentation process allows the development of the world’s first second-generation bio-refinery that converts a sugars and waste into ethanol and feed.
Microbiogen’s success lies in its ability to accelerate the evolution of the yeast strains using natural means, rather than through genetic engineering. This has enabled it to create yeast strains that are significantly more robust and suitable for full-scale bio-refinery usage, with none of the concerns that surround genetically-modified foods. If enhanced strains are utilised in a first generation ethanol facility, independent biochemical engineering studies suggest these new strains can improve the economics of a typical 50 million gallon/year ethanol production facility by up to $7 million annually.
Microbiogen has the capability to customise yeast characteristics through its propriety breeding technology to suit the specific needs of end customers. The quality of the yeasts strains has been confirmed by several separate industrial organisations and it is now moving to larger scale laboratory trials, ahead of pilot and full-scale trials in the first half of 2011. In the nascent ‘second generation’ ethanol industry Microbiogen is collaborating with numerous organisations to make the food and fuel biorefinery concept a reality.