New Zealand Gears Up Cellulosic Ethanol Development

A collaborative research program between two New Zealand Crown Research Institutes (Scion and AgResearch) and Diversa Corporation of the United States has been formed to harness New Zealand’s cellulose-based resources (i.e., wood biomass from plantation forests and grasses) to biofuels. The partnership combines Diversa’s proprietary technologies in metagenomic enzyme discovery and biochemical process optimization with the research capability/expertise of Scion and AgResearch to convert wood biomass and grasses to ethanol.

Technical aspects of the research would look (among other things) into the feasibility of using novel enzymes as a component in pulp/paper manufacturing processes for ethanol production, and to assess the bioethanol potential of feed stocks such as grasses. Economic aspects of the study would include identification of “potential risks or barriers to commercialization plans”.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Climate Change is said to be finalizing the country’s response to climate change and to produce cost-effective and clean energies. The project would be in line with these initiatives..

“Metagenomics”, as cited in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagenomics), has been defined as "the application of modern genomics techniques to the study of communities of microbial organisms directly in their natural environments, by-passing the need for isolation and lab cultivation of individual species."