€1.6M “Pathway” consortium launches in EU, in search of lower celluase costs 

In Germany, an international consortium led by Autodisplay Biotech GmbH has started PATHWAY EFB, a €1.6 million collaborative R&D project to significantly lower cellulase cost in the production of biofuels and bio-based chemicals. The project builds onto Autodisplay Biotech’s proprietary cell surface display technology which enables a low-cost recovery and re-use of cellulases after the biomass saccharification step.

The PATHWAY EFB consortium is focused on the development of a cellulase blend as well as a corresponding process, fine-tuned for the conversion of empty fruit bunches (EFB) to fermentable sugars for the production of high value biochemicals. Empty fruit bunches are a waste by-product from the production of palm oil.

PATHWAY EFB project partners are Autodisplay Biotech GmbH (Düsseldorf, Germany), FraunhoferUMSICHT (Oberhausen, Germany), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Münster, Germany), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) and AUM Plantations Sdn Bhd (Tawau, Malaysia). The three-year project will be funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the Bioeconomy International program.