S84: Improved biofuels process economics through feedstock modification

Agrivida is developing proprietary crops and processes to transform the economics of producing renewable fuels and chemicals from non-food cellulosic biomass. Currently, cellulosic biofuel production is limited due to requirements for a severe pretreatment stage and significant external enzyme addition. Agrivida expresses cell wall degrading enzymes in transgenic plants, enabling efficient, low cost conversion of cellulosic components into fermentable sugars. For enzymes which have negative impacts on the crop, Agrivida has engineered protein elements that disrupt enzyme activity during normal plant growth. Upon exposure to designed processing conditions, the engineered enzymes are converted into their active forms. Processing experiments under moderate pretreatment conditions (e.g., pH 5-9, T < 90^oC) have resulted in higher fermentable sugar production when using plants expressing single enzymes versus native plants. In further experiments, equivalent sugar production has been demonstrated using <25% standard enzyme cocktail loadings with the engineered plants when compared to the native ones. From an economic prospective, the lower temperature, more neutral pH operating conditions significantly reduce the capital required for pretreatment and cleanup and reduce inhibitory byproducts while the enzyme replacement decreases operating costs due to external addition. Agrivida estimates that the cost of production for cellulosic biofuel can be reduced by 30% with this technology