DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) and the University of Tennessee (UT) Research Foundation, through its Genera Energy LLC, today announced a partnership to construct an innovative pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art research and development facility for cellulosic ethanol in Vonore, Tennessee.

The pilot-scale biorefinery will develop the commercial package for DDCE's leading cellulosic ethanol technology.

The project will utilise UT's expertise in cellulosic feedstock production and coproduct research, as well as its experience in working with Tennessee farmers to develop the first dedicated cellulosic energy crop supply chain for cellulosic biorefineries utilising switchgrass.

The facility design will incorporate the flexibility to operate on two different non-food biomass feedstocks - corn stover, cobs and fibre; and switchgrass.

''We are extremely pleased to collaborate with DDCE,'' UT President John Petersen said. ''The technical breadth and execution capabilities of DuPont Danisco, along with the backing of their parent companies, raise the national and international profile of the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative and confirm the State of Tennessee as a leader in the development of cellulosic ethanol.''

The pilot plant and process development unit (PDU) will be located at the Niles Ferry Industrial Park, to enable both experimentation at larger than laboratory scale and more rapid adjustments to process components. The plant capacity will be 250,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually. Site preparations are scheduled to begin this fall, and ethanol is expected to be be available from the pilot plant by December 2009.

''Our technology is ready to pilot and we are eager to get the steel in the ground,'' said DuPont Danisco Technology Leader John Pierce. ''The high cellulosic content of switchgrass makes it an optimal feedstock for ethanol production. Its yields today make it more than competitive with other biomass sources, and it has the potential to produce over 1,000 gallons of ethanol per acre in the future. The joint venture is now targeting the two optimal biomass feedstocks in the United States and we are ready to take our technology to the next level of commercial viability.''

In 2007 at the proposal of Governor Phil Bredesen, the legislature set aside $40.7 million toward the construction of a pilot biorefinery. Those funds will be combined with a substantial investment from DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol to construct the high-tech research facility.

''I'm extremely pleased to see UT partner with a company like DuPont Danisco,'' Bredesen said. ''This announcement marks an important step forward in our goal to leverage the best of Tennessee's agricultural and academic resources in a way that will maximize our potential as a farm-based fuels leader. Biomass ethanol research and production is fundamental to positioning Tennessee to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the future.''

The university has invested state research dollars toward the development of switchgrass as a potential energy crop for the state and the United States. The first switchgrass plots that will supply the pilot biorefinery were planted by area farmers in spring 2008. These crops will fully mature in three years, and demonstration of switchgrass-to-ethanol conversion could begin as early as 2010. The pilot plant will initially process western Tennessee corn cobs to ethanol and then will optimize its technology for switchgrass to ethanol conversion.

The Tennessee Biofuels Initiative is a farm-to-fuel business plan developed by UT Institute of Agriculture researchers that models a biofuels industry capable of supplementing 30 percent of Tennessee's current petroleum consumption.

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC is dedicated to the development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. Bringing together two leaders in the field -- DuPont and Genencor, a division of Danisco -- DDCE leverages more than $140 million of investment and over 10 years of research and development to bring to market global, integrated cellulosic ethanol technology packages that utilize various non-food feedstocks. The company's mission includes accelerating the development of commercial scale biorefineries, creating value for the renewable fuels and agricultural industries and leading the way toward a low-carbon economy.

Advantages of integrated cellulosic technology
Energy security and climate change are global challenges that demand global solutions. Diversifying our energy base must be accomplished in a sustainable way. Until now, biofuels from non-food cellulosic plant material has been a dream with significant technological and economic hurdles.

How do you break down the rigid structures that give plants the ability to survive the environmental changes of seasons and severe weather? How do you do this at a price point that is comparable to existing biofuels?

The joint venture between DuPont and the Genencor division of Danisco is answering these questions. The joint venture will deliver integrated cellulosic ethanol technology packages to every region of the world, utilising regional cellulosic biomass feedstock to offer the most cost effective and efficient technology with the smallest environmental footprint.

The successful deployment of cellulosic technology to produce ethanol requires step-changes in the entire ethanol production value chain. From collection, transportation and storage on the front end, to the steps needed to break down the sugars in rigid plant structures into usable sugars, to the fermentation technology that will create the ethanol - all of these steps must be integrated to deliver non-food biofuels to the market.

Here's how it is being done:
The joint venture combines DuPont expertise in integrated biorefinery design, engineering, pretreatment, and dual sugar fermentation with Genencor expertise in biomass enzyme and low-cost enzyme production. The integrated cellulosic ethanol technology system includes:

• Pretreatment of corn stover to separate the lignin from the plant's cellulose backbone to provide access to the cellulose for further processing. DuPont has developed a pretreatment technology through its collaboration with the US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) that is a proprietary mild alkaline process that allows for lower cost of capital than other pretreatments and will now be utilized by the joint venture. Work is ongoing to optimise this pretreatment technology for other cellulosic feedstocks.
  
  
• A process called enzymatic hydrolysis to convert the cellulosic materials to fermentable sugars. The pioneering research programmes of Danisco's Genencor division have resulted in powerful enzyme complexes that deliver a 30-fold decrease in enzyme costs. These breakthroughs are helping to overcome the challenges of time, cost and flexibility to break down a variety of cellulosic substrates, such as corn stover and sugar cane bagasse. This is a key strength of the joint venture.
  
  
• A novel technology also developed through the DuPont-NREL collaboration to ferment the sugars to make high concentrations of cellulosic ethanol. DuPont has created a unique ethanologen for the production of cellulosic ethanol using a proprietary biocatalyst based on 2 Zymomonas mobilis. The ability to convert both sugars into high yields of ethanol with fewer byproducts is a key value differentiator for the joint venture's cellulosic technology.

The technology being developed by DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC will utilize low cost, nonfood carbon sources to increase the biofuel outputs per acre while improving the greenhouse gas impact of transportation fuels. For example, in the United States, a major use of the integrated biorefinery system will be to significantly increase the amount of ethanol produced per acre by allowing the use of corn stover as an additional biofuel feedstock. The drivers for biofuels are global, and each market will use different crop inputs and may have different product and/or infrastructure needs. As a result, the joint venture will adapt the science to the need in each region.

Biofuels is just one part of the solution needed to reduce global reliance on petroleum and address climate change. DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC is committed to delivering the best cellulosic technology package to global markets.