... imagine the possibilities of this for the white liquor biz <g>
-----Original Message----- From: Terry Blanton http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2011/joule-awarded-patents-high-volume-et hanol-production-sunlight-and-co2 Cambridge, Mass. - July 26, 2011 - Joule Unlimited Technologies today announced the issuance of its first two U.S. patents covering its fundamental method for producing ethanol at volumes and efficiencies far surpassing biomass-dependent processes. The patents relate to methods for increasing the ethanol production capability of a photosynthetic microorganism. Unlike competing technologies that utilize microorganisms to produce ethanol by fermenting sugars from cellulose or other biomass materials, Joule's platform microorganism is engineered to produce and secrete ethanol in a continuous process, converting more than 90% of the CO2 it consumes directly to end product, with no reliance on biomass feedstocks. U.S. Patent #7,981,647 and U.S. Patent #7,968,321, granted on July 19th and June 28th respectively, cover enzymatic mechanisms engineered into the cell by Joule to maximize its ethanol productivity. These innovations, together with Joule's advances in bioprocessing and solar capture and conversion, will help Joule achieve an ultimate target of 25,000 gallons per acre annually - a rate that is 10X greater than that of cellulosic ethanol and 100X greater than corn ethanol - while requiring no depletion of food crops, agricultural land or fresh water. In addition, by eliminating the need for biomass, Joule avoids the burden of fluctuating feedstock cost and supply, as well as the energy-intensive, multi-step conversion of biomass to product. At full-scale commercial production Joule expects to produce ethanol for as little as $0.60/gallon. <more>
