Sweet New Fuel

Bay Area biofuels startup Amyris, is proposing to do: put specially designed microorganisms to work on sugarcane in hopes of generating massive amounts of a new kind of biodiesel fuel.
The start-up said it had teamed up with Crystalsev, one of Brazil’s largest ethanol distributors and marketers, to commercialize fuels made from sugarcane.
The joint venture aims to produce a biodiesel by 2010 that will work in conventional car and truck engines. Amyris executives say they believe the new fuel will reduce emissions by 80%, compared with burning petroleum-based diesel. Even better--Amyris targets the sugarcane diesel to be cost-competitive with petroleum based-fuels, with crude oil prices as low as $60 to $65 a barrel.
"Sugarcane is the most energy-productive crop per acre of land, so, economically, Brazil is the most attractive place to be," says Amyris Chief Financial Officer Jeryl Hilleman.
Amyris’ technology harnesses a modified yeast that essentially "eats" the crushed sugarcane and spits out a hydrocarbon-like renewable fuel. The technology came from research at the lab of Jay Keasling, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

source : www.forbes.com