Online news, features and analysis
Join Scoop.it for Free
Share ideas that matter on the social web and experience
the benefits of curating the world's best content.
I don't have a Facebook, a Twitter or a LinkedIn account
Already have an account: Login
SIGN UP
Attract your communities of interest by sharing ideas that matter
Scoop.it Score
11
Visitors
Loading...
Updated
Jan 20
Created
May 29, 2011
Created by
Scoops
93
Reactions
144
Edit Tag
Follow
 Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
No
|
Proterro is the only company making sugar instead of extracting it from crops—has closed on a $3.5-million financing round led by current investor Braemar Energy Ventures. Proterro has engineered cyanobacteria (from the group consisting of Synechococcus and Synechocystis) that naturally produce only sucrose to secrete the sucrose in a continuous, high-yield process. The sucrose can then be used in the production of biofuels and biochemicals.
The company projects it can produce its sucrose at a cost of less than $.05/lb.—far less than sugarcane, corn, other energy crops, or cellulosic sugar approaches.
In terms of unit economics, Proterro projects that at commercial scale-up, a plant operator could deliver an EBITDA of $1.24 per gallon of ethanol using Proterro sucrose, compared to an EBITDA of $0.33 per gallon for a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant.