September 22, 2008 12:00 PM PDT
A diagram of how industrial-scale ethanol will be produced with
Mascoma's consolidated bioprocessing technology.
The breakthrough that Mascoma is pursuing will happen in the fermentation tank, its scientists say. Rather than have different steps for making sugar with enzymes and fermenting those sugars with yeast, Mascoma wants a microorganism to do both. With a streamlined process, Mascoma hopes it can reduce the cost of ethanol production. The company is now building a test plant in Rome, N.Y., and plans to have a commercial-scale operation in Michigan using wood chips in 2012.
There are a number of different technologies for making cellulosic ethanol. Once different processes reach a commercial scale, the price of cellulosic ethanol will hinge mostly on the cost of feedstock, industry experts say.
Photo by Martin LaMonica/CNET Networks
Caption by Martin LaMonica
