Faculty Accomplishments, Spring 2008

Fuel from Trash, Not From Food:
Professors' Invention Promises Major Advance in Biofuel Production

Steve Hutcheson, Martin O'Malley and Dan Mote
Steve Hutcheson receives $50,000 from Gov. Martin O'Malley
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Time Lapse Video of Ethazyme at Work:
Right beaker, Zymetis enzymes break down newspaper into ethanol-ready sugars over 36 hours. Left beaker, a salt water control sample, also with newspaper. The Zymetis commercial enzymes break down cellulosic material at a significantly more rapid pace.
Research that started with an elusive bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to a process that may be able to convert large volumes of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline.

That process, developed by Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics professors Steve Hutcheson (pictured at podium top right) and Ron Weiner, is the foundation of their incubator company Zymetis.  A press conference on Monday, March 10 with MD Governor Martin O’Malley, UM President Mote, and Dr. Hutcheson and his Zymetis colleagues, highlighted the incredible potential of this discovery to offset fossil fuel consumption. Hutcheson’s patent-pending biomass-degrading process (called Ethazyme) could yield 75 billion gallons a year of carbon-neutral ethanol. Gov. Martin O'Malley presented Hutcheson with a $50,000 "challenge grant" from the state to help Zymetis expand its production process to a commercial scale (pictured center right).

This invention makes it possible to produce ethanol and other biofuels at a fraction of the cost of corn-based ethanol production. “We can produce this cellulosic ethanol for pennies per per gallon,” said Dr. Hutcheson.  “Ethazyme breaks down cellulosic sources faster and more simply than any product available, resulting in lower costs."

Jonathan Dinman, professor of cell biology and molecular genetics, has also contributed expertise to maximize the effectiveness of this technology.  He is engineering yeast which increase the ability of the Saccharophagus degradans bacterium to break down cellulosic matter.

Read the UM Press Release >>
Read the Baltimore Sun article >>
Read the Washington Post article >>
View the NBC News 4 story >>
View the WJC Channel 13 story >>
Visit the Zymetis website >>