Clariant announced it has signed a joint research agreement with ExxonMobil and Renewable Energy Group (REG) to evaluate the potential use of cellulosic sugars from sources such as agricultural waste and residues to produce biofuel, which has the potential to play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Clariant
The new partnership expands a previously announced agreement for joint research between ExxonMobil and REG, in which the companies successfully validated the ability of REG Life Sciences bio-conversion technology to convert sugars from cellulosic biomass into biodiesel through a single-step process.
The new agreement will further optimise REG’s bio-conversion process using previously tested and benchmarked cellulosic sugars created through Clariant’s sunliquid process.
The companies’ ultimate objective is to combine Clariant’s and REG’s processes into a seamless cellulosic biomass-to-biodiesel technology.
“Over the past three years, our work with REG has led to important advances in genetically improving REG’s proprietary microbes for a beneficial use in facilitating the conversion of cellulosic sugars into biodiesel,” said Vijay Swarup, Vice President of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.
“Applying Clariant’s expertise and knowledge will help us better understand and advance a key stage in the overall cellulosic conversion process, and hopefully lead to the development of scalable biodiesel technology.”
The partners will also work on a conceptual engineering study to validate the feasibility of the integrated process comprising the technologies of all parties.
