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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (5174)	11/25/2006 7:31:37 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24225

omrpublic.iea.org The Nov 10 IEA Oil Market Report was made free today(PDF). Aug and Sep KSA revised down. Oct KSA down from Aug and Sep. Aug and Sep total revised down. Oct figure lower than pre revised Sep figure. Where is the increased production? Just think, Nov. will bring the OPEC cuts. richlev on Saturday November 25, 2006 at 6:37 AM EST theoildrum.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (5174)	11/25/2006 12:35:36 PM
From: Ron	Respond to of 24225

Enzymes are the engine to turn stalks, straw to fuel By Sabine Vollmer, Staff Writer FRANKLINTON,NC - Tucked into rolling pastures and woodsy patches here, less than an hour's drive north of Raleigh sits a 2,200-acre industrial campus where scientists are working on what they call the new dot-com. The campus is the U.S. headquarters of Novozymes. The Danish company is the world's largest producer of enzymes, which are essential in brewing beer, baking bread, treating wastewater and making detergents. The new dot-com is the national gamble on biofuels to reduce America's dependence on oil imports. Novozymes is a crucial player in the effort. While some companies focus on vegetable oils and fuel made from corn kernels, Novozymes is focused on biomass conversion -- tranforming into fuel biomasses such as wood, cornstalks, wheat straw and other fibrous materials. So over the past five years, Mads Torry-Smith and about 20 other scientists at Novozymes have developed a super enzyme, which is particularly good at turning stalks, straw and chips into ethanol. "We're almost to the point where what we can learn in the lab is limited," Torry-Smith said. "Now, it has to be scaled up." The first full-size biomass ethanol plant won't be up and running for at least another year or two. But biofuels are gaining momentum, not unlike the Internet did in the late 1980s. Federal legislation will nearly double the national use of ethanol to about 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The U.S. Department of Energy is prepared to spend millions to advance biomass conversion, and companies are applying for federal funds to construct production plants. In the past five years, Novozymes alone has received about $18 million in federal funds to advance its super enzyme. The company produces about 40 percent of the enzymes that have replaced chemicals in industries from textile manufacturing to food preparation. Now it is determined to become a dominant supplier to the biomass conversion industry. It has partnerships with two ethanol producers interested in testing its super enzyme's powers in a commercial setting, and its research network stretches all the way to China. All ethanol on the market today is made from corn kernels. Enzymes break down the starch in the kernels. The result is glucose, the same type of sugar from which Sweet Tarts are made. Yeast turns the glucose into a crude beer containing up to 50 percent alcohol that can be blended with gasoline. Turning starch into alcohol is easy, but the supply of corn is limited. Biomass is abundant and cheaper than corn, but converting it into alcohol takes extra effort. The problem is the way glucose is packaged in biomass. It is the building block for cellulose, the structural support plants rely on. Starch breaks down because it is a food. It thickens puddings and sauces at about 170 degrees. Cellulose is intended to hold up. "Sawdust doesn't break down, no matter how long it is boiled," said Larry Peckous, a Novozymes scientist who advises the Chinese government on biomass conversion. There are fungi and bacteria that naturally break down cellulose, but they aren't very efficient. It takes about 100 times as much enzymes to break down cellulose than it takes to break down starch. So, researchers at Novozymes' laboratories in Davis, Calif., modified the genetic information of a fungus to create a super enzyme. Then, Torry-Smith and his colleagues in Franklinton took over from the California gene jockeys. The Franklinton crew used buckets instead of test tubes and tinkered with temperature and pressure to mimic real-world scenarios in a biomass conversion plant. For Novozymes, the next step is to use the researchers' work in collaboration with an ethanol producer. It has teamed up with Broin, a South Dakota-based biofuels producer. Broin wants to build a plant that could convert about 700 tons of cornstalks into ethanol every day. Novozymes would supply the super enzymes. But Novozymes scientists are already thinking about the next generation of enzymes, those that break down switchgrass and yard waste. And how about kudzu? The idea to turn kudzu into ethanol has crossed his mind, said Frank Haagensen, a Novozymes scientist who works with Torry-Smith. The vine known as "the plant that ate the South" flourishes along 1the country roads that Novozymes employees drive to work. Over lunch, Haagensen and his colleagues have discussed kudzu as a biomass feedstock. "It's mainly for the fun of it," Haagensen said. "But somebody could just figure it out." Staff writer Sabine Vollmer can be reached at 829-8992 or svollmer@newsobserver.com. newsobserver.com