China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Valorization of Hemicelluloses
Published in Jean-Luc Wertz, Magali Deleu, Séverine Coppée, Aurore Richel, Hemicelluloses and Lignin in Biorefineries, 2017
Jean-Luc Wertz, Magali Deleu, Séverine Coppée, Aurore Richel
Examples of platform compounds with more than six carbon atoms are farnesene (a C15H24 hydrocarbon) and generally long-chain hydrocarbons (CnHm) (Table 9.8). The U.S. Company Amyris produces farnesene by fermentation of sugars. Farnesene is a starting material for biobased fuels such as diesel.The U.S. Company Virent produces hydrocarbons by catalytic transformation of soluble sugars (« aqueous phase reforming »), which are the starting materials for biobased fuels such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel.
Farnesene-Derived Base Oils
Published in Brajendra K. Sharma, Girma Biresaw, Environmentally Friendly and Biobased Lubricants, 2016
Jeff Brown, Hyeok Hahn, Paula Vettel, Jason Wells
Farnesene is manufactured in a biological fermentation process with any fermentable sugar as the feedstock [12]. Sugar is a ubiquitous chemical that can be obtained from many sources around the world. The farnesene process can be run on any form of sugar, making it highly sustainable for a local region or economy. Thus, Amyris has successfully demonstrated the manufacture of farnesene in the United States from corn syrup [13]; in Spain, from beet sugars [14]; and in Brazil, from sugarcane [12]. In addition, Amyris has demonstrated equivalent farnesene production from cellulosic sugars [15,16]. These characteristics allow farnesene to offer outstanding sustainability in its current production with a road map to the eventual use of cellulose for best cost/performance.
Biorefineries
Published in M.R. Riazi, David Chiaramonti, Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 2017
Isabella De Bari, Daniela Cuna, Nicola Di Fidio, M.R. Riazi, David Chiaramonti
They are an abundant class of natural products based on the C5 isoprene unit. They hold the potential to be used for the production of platform chemicals and biofuels. Recently, Amyris engineered the metabolic pathways in some microorganisms for the production of terpenoids such as farnesene. It is a branched-chain alkene with 15 carbon atoms. It is produced in small quantities in plants and in some insects. A large-scale production can be induced in microorganisms through genetic modification (Wang et al. 2011). Farnesene has demonstrated applicability not only as fuel and lubricant feedstock, replacing jet fuel, diesel, and a range of industrial oils, but may also have some applications in crop protection.
A comprehensive review of sustainable approaches for synthetic lubricant components
Published in Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, 2023
Jessica Pichler, Rosa Maria Eder, Charlotte Besser, Lucia Pisarova, Nicole Dörr, Martina Marchetti-Deschmann, Marcella Frauscher
Farnesene (C15H24), a sesquiterpene, is an unsaturated hydrocarbon, that holds great potential as a future lubricant feedstock for base oils since it can be biotechnologically produced from any kind of fermentable sugar feedstock using adapted microbial cells by metabolic engineering. Co-oligomerization of hydrogenated -farnesene with (petroleum derived) linear alpha olefins, LAOs, (>90% saturates, VI > 120, sulfur < 0.03%) leads to a base oil (farnesene-derived base oil, FDBO) with 30 carbon atoms, that is ready to compete with Group III mineral oils and Group IV PAOs as renewable, low toxic and biodegradable alternative. Furthermore, FDBO applies to the criteria of the EU Ecolabel and the US EPA VGP (Vessel General Permit) (6).
Chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass: A critical comparison between biochemical, microwave and thermochemical conversion methods
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2021
Iris K. M. Yu, Huihui Chen, Felix Abeln, Hadiza Auta, Jiajun Fan, Vitaly L. Budarin, James H. Clark, Sophie Parsons, Christopher J. Chuck, Shicheng Zhang, Gang Luo, Daniel C.W Tsang
Terpenes are also commercialized products, which contain no heteroatoms and so have a wide range of applications in advanced biofuels and biopolymers. The first system to be commercialized was farnesene, a branched sesquiterpene (α- and β-isomers), which naturally occurs in plants and animals, and is microbially produced as a pure enantiomer on industrial scale by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Through chemical modifications it constitutes a precursor for a large variety of products including cosmetics (e.g. squalane), fragrances, polymers, lubricants, detergents, and jet and diesel fuel. The strain has been developed by Amyris utilizing heterologous expression of β-farnesene synthase and strain improvements through synthetic biology (Kirby et al., 2016; Meadows et al., 2016; Sandoval et al., 2014; Westfall et al., 2012). Commenced in 2012 and running on sugarcane, the 1200 m3 production plant is located in Brotas, near São Paulo, Brazil, producing up to 24,000 tonnes/yr farnesene (Benjamin et al., 2016). The company announced the production cost of β-farnesene as $1.75 in 2015, but there were challenges concerning production rates and consistent yields at scale. In 2016, an alliance to investigate utilization of lignocellulosic feedstock was formed, but shortly after, at the end of 2017, the Amyris Brasil Ltda, which owned and operated the production facility, was sold to DSM. This deal included the intellectual property on farnesene production and was designed to fund Amyris’ specialty plants – away from high-volume and toward sweetener production.