The new stain of yeast will be used in the fermentation process for producing cellulosic ethanol.
TMC’s newly developed yeast is efficient at fermenting xylose as well as highly resistant to such fermentation-inhibiting substances as acetic acid.
The yeast will improve bio-fuel yield, and reduce production costs and CO2 emissions.
The company is developing renewable energy sources such as bio-fuels in addition to its work in developing next-generation environment-friendly vehicles.
TMC said the company is focusing on cellulosic ethanol, which is produced from non-edible plants that have less impact on world food supplies, through the process of raw material pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification and yeast fermentation.
TMC, in conjunction with Tokyo Institute of Technology, developed a method of accurately measuring the amount of transpiration from trees and is building a model for predicting the surface temperature of trees.
