Can you imagine filling up with renewable versions of today’s gasoline, diesel or jet fuel that are made without using any petroleum? That’s the next frontier of sugarcane innovation – biohydrocarbons. These renewable fuels are also often referred to as “drop-in” because they can be used in any amount with today’s engines, fueling stations and pipelines.
Brazil is leading the charge to develop and produce alternative transportation fuels that go beyond sugarcane ethanol. These biohydrocarbons will be clean, low-carbon and renewable like ethanol, but won’t require engine changes or additional infrastructure. Some examples:
- Diesel from Sugarcane. Perhaps the most successful example of biohydrocarbon production in Brazil is farnesene, a chemical compound that can be the basis for a number of renewable chemicals, including diesel fuel. Amyris Biotechnologies, based in California, is one of the pioneers in developing farnesene. In partnership with its Brazilian subsidiary, São Martinho Group, Amyris is producing sugarcane-based diesel that is currently being tested by the city of São Paulo in a pilot project involving six municipal buses. Right now, these buses use a blend containing 10% renewable sugarcane diesel and 90% petroleum-based diesel, and eventually, the blends will be changed to increase the renewable content. BP, in partnership with Martek Biosciences Corporation, also agreed to advance the development of a step-technology for the conversion of sugars into biodiesel.
- Renewable Petroleum: Another California-based company, LS9, uses engineered microbes to convert sugar feedstocks into fuels and chemicals. LS9 developed a way to convert fatty acid intermediates into petroleum substitutes via sugar fermentation.
- Jet Fuel from Sugarcane. An encouraging sign that bio-based hydrocarbons are here to stay is the collaboration between Brazil and the United States on their progress. In March 2011, these countries signed an expanded Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance cooperation on biofuels, including a new partnership on sugarcane-based jet fuel. Development is already underway with Brazilian jet manufacturer Embraer working alongside General Electric (GE) and Amyris to stage the first-ever sugarcane jet fueled flight in 2012.
- Renewable Oils from Microalgae: Solazyme is yet another biotech company from California which has developed a platform to create renewable oils by increasing the production of oil by microalgae. The microalgae used are heterotrophic, or glow in the dark by consuming sugars derived from plants.
Biohydrocarbons offer the promise of renewable alternatives for many products we consume to power our daily lives. Their commercialization will also serve as an incentive to expand sustainable sugarcane cultivation in Brazil and around the world.
