The partners aim to develop a process for making biofuel from forestry waste at a production cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol at the current US market prices.
Ross MacLachlan, president and CEO of Lignol, said: “The progress we have achieved to date with enzymes from Novozymes is extremely promising and a successful outcome of this collaboration should position us to produce cellulosic ethanol from woody biomass profitably and without the need for long term government subsidies.”
The agreement between Lignol and Novozymes formalizes a memorandum of understanding between the partners from February 2010.
The parties plan to use Lignol’s industrial pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, to optimize both Lignol’s process and Novozymes’ enzymes on different types of forestry waste. Later, Lignol plans to construct large-scale biorefineries for the production of cellulosic biofuel from wood chips and forestry residues.
