DuPont and Diversa form fuels alliance
1 May 2003
Diversa Corporation today announced that it has entered into a six-year alliance with DuPont to discover and develop biocatalysts for the production of fuel ethanol, 1,3 propanediol, and other chemicals from renewable resources such as corn and biomass.
As the leader of a grant consortium to develop a biorefinery capable of producing high-value chemical products from biomass, DuPont will receive $19 million in matching funds from the US Department of Energy over four years.
Diversa will collaborate with DuPont on the biorefinery grant and will receive research funding, as well as milestone payments and royalties on any new products developed under the six-year collaboration. Under this broad agreement, Diversa and DuPont may also agree to collaborate on additional projects.
The biorefinery project was selected from nearly 200 proposals submitted to the US Department of Energy. Known as the 'Integrated Corn-Based Bioproducts Refinery (ICBR),' the project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of alternative energy and renewable resource technology.
The ICBR would produce sugars from corn and biomass and use them in a fermentation process to produce fuel ethanol and added value chemicals. The integrated production of fuel ethanol and PDO would reportedly yield a process with superior economics and improved environmental performance compared to current processes.
DuPont is contributing expertise in applied chemistry, chemical engineering and project management. Diversa will bring its proprietary genomic technologies for the rapid discovery, development and optimisation of novel proteins and microorganisms.
