Three different companies announced the introduction of new enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production at this week’s National Ethanol Conference in Orlando.

Novozymes made the biggest splash with its Cellic® CTec2 for the production of biofuel from agricultural waste, but the other two are no less significant in the race towards commercialization of advanced biofuels.

Verenium Corporation‘s new introduction into the enzyme mix is called Xylathin, which is specifically designed to improve the economics of fuel ethanol production from cereal grains. According to the company, “Xylathin rapidly breaks down xylan, a compound found in cereal grains such as wheat, rye and barley and significantly reduces mash viscosity. This faster acting enzyme allows producers to shorten retention times and reduce enzyme dose. Xylathin also reduces grain water retention lowering grain drying energy requirements.”

At the same time, Danisco’s Genencor introduced Accellerase® DUET, a step up from Accellerase® 1500. “Accellerase® DUET employs a whole broth formulation, which provides nutrients for fermentative organisms and lowers the chemical load introduced into our customers’ processes. Higher performance at lower dose will lead to significant improvements in enzyme cost in use for producers, which is critical to enable the cellulosic biofuels industry.”

Representatives from all three companies, as well as others in the field, made presentations at two different sessions during the National Ethanol Conference to talk about advanced biofuels technology and the path to commercialization. If you attended the conference, those presentations are now available on-line.