Biotech's Third Wave

Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Peg Zenk

Other hot feedstocks

Industrial biotech is about more than just corn. Other feedstocks being used include wheat and barley straw, microbes, switchgrass and corn fiber, just for starters. Here's a quick rundown of how other renewable sources are being used:

Specializing in producing enzymes for cellulose ethanol production, Iogen Corporation hopes to build a plant in Idaho that will convert wheat and barley straw into fuel. The Canadian company claims that results from its Ottawa pilot plant show a larger plant using its process could produce ethanol for $1.35/gal.
Using microbes that make plastic inside bacterial cells, Metabolix hopes to commercially produce biopolymers that can be used to mold a variety of biodegradable plastic products. The Cambridge, MA, company also is pairing with ADM to build a plant in Clinton, IA, to produce PHA from cornstarch.
Using elite germplasm for switchgrass, molecular plant breeders at California-based Ceres Inc. worked with the Noble Foundation to develop varieties that yield 20 to 35% more ethanol than typical switchgrass does. The U.S. Department of Energy has identified this native prairie grass as a primary target for development as an ethanol feedstock.
Genetically engineered bacteria that eat hemicellulose in corn fiber could be a source for making the mint-flavored sweetener xylitol for use in chewing gum, toothpaste and mouthwash. Researchers at USDA's Agricultural Research Service have developed these bacteria, which could make xylitol much cheaper to produce than the current chemical process with birch wood fiber.

On the edge of industry

Blurring the lines between industrial and agricultural technology is a new company called Renessen LLC, a joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto. The company is gearing up to introduce a high-value corn and a high-value soybean, both for livestock feed, in 2007. It expects to have a high-lysine corn hybrid for 2008, says Doug Rushing, director of public and government affairs for Renessen.

“We're pairing the plant-breeding expertise of Monsanto with Cargill's capabilities in animal nutrition and grain handling to help growers produce and deliver a value-added crop that has benefit for livestock feeders,” he says.

Based on DeKalb and Asgrow plant genetics, the hybrids have been developed using biotech to have higher oil content, which makes the grain more valuable to livestock producers. “The first corn hybrid has twice the oil content of a typical corn variety — 6 to 8% compared to 3½%,” Rushing says. “We could have gotten even higher oil content, but then we started to sacrifice on yield, and we weren't willing to do that.”

He says the new high-oil hybrid — Asgrow RX832 — will have the YieldGard corn-borer trait and fits the 113- to 116-day maturity group. It will be grown on 20,000 acres in central Illinois and 10,000 acres in southern Iowa next season. Farmers will get a $0.25/bu. premium. “And we've already got the 2007 crop sold to poultry producers in Mexico and Latin America,” Rushing says.

The new soybean variety, which contains 5 percentage points more protein that average types, will be grown on 25,000 acres in Illinois this coming year. “Cargill has contracted with farmers fairly close to the river system, to simplify transportation,” Rushing explains. “That crop will be sold to pork producers in China. The economics are best now selling these value-added crops through export markets, due to the need for increased protein in their diets, but we will also be selling them domestically in the years to come.”

New pre-ethanol process cuts DDGS

A NEW low-cost process for separating more oil from corn kernels before they are fermented could improve the efficiency of ethanol production, as well as increase the value of the co-products. Developed by Renessen LLC, a joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto, this new process could be added on the front end of most existing dry-grind ethanol plants to make them more efficient.

Called the Renessen Corn Processing System, this new mechanical process captures a high percentage of the oil from the corn prior to fermentation, explains Doug Rushing, the company's director of public and government affairs. “This not only retrieves the oil but reduces the amount of nonfermentable material going into the ethanol plant, making it more efficient.”

The new process is expected to result in a reduction of one-third to one-half the normal amount of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) produced at the back end of the ethanol process, he adds. “But the corn oil and nutrient-rich feed ingredient we extract initially adds more value to every bushel of corn going into a plant. Vegetable oil sells for $0.26 to $0.30/lb., versus just $0.02 to $0.03/lb. for DDGS.

“Also, we're reducing our natural gas costs because there is less DDGS to dry,” Rushing adds. “So, overall, we're not just adding more value to the corn, but also saving money in the ethanol production process. The other major benefit in this system is the production of a valuable, nutrient-rich feed that can be utilized by the local pork producers.”

Renessen is completing construction of a new pilot plant near Eddyville, IA, and expects to begin processing corn there in early 2007. The company contracted just more than 7,000 acres of high-oil corn for sale to the plant this past season, and Rushing says the plant will contract for at least 10,000 acres of Mavera high-value corn in 2007.

“We will also be working with researchers at several universities to conduct feeding trials,” he adds. “If everything works as well as we expect it will at the pilot plant, we will be able to license this technology to future and existing dry-mill ethanol plants as a bolt-on system. Right now, about 70% of the existing ethanol plants use the dry-mill process.”

For more information, contact Renessen LLC, Dept. FIN, 520 Lake Cook Rd., Suite 220, Deerfield, IL 60015, 847/236-5101, www.renessen.com.