US Monsanto, Mendel in cellulosic partnership

28 April 2008 18:36  [Source: ICIS news]

(adds dropped litre conversion in paragraph 5)

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US agricultural giant Monsanto and biotech company Mendel Biotechnology announced on Monday a partnership to develop cellulosic ethanol.

Under the agreement, Mendel will use Monsanto’s technology to test and breed seed varieties it is now developing for the production of cellulosic biofuels.

No financial details were provided.

The US is touting cellulosic biomass as a means to achieve biofuels consumption targets set under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

The RFS will require the US to use 36bn gal (136bn litres)/year of renewable fuels in 2022. At least 16bn gal/year of that amount must be cellulose based, according to the legislation.

Unlike standard ethanol, which in the US is made from corn, cellulosic biofuels are made from non-edible crops, such as leaves, stems, stalks and wood chips.

Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which amended the RFS of 2005, the US will need to produce at least 100m gal/year of cellulosic ethanol by 2010.

That mandate jumps to 500m gal/year by 2012.

For more on ethanol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels

By: William Lemos
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