Evry, October 23rd, 2014 – Global Bioenergies (Alternext Paris: ALGBE) announces having reached, and even significantly surpassed, the first productivity objective of the isobutene process defined in the context of the “Investissements d’Avenir” financing.
The ADEME defined this productivity objective to ensure that the first industrial pilot trials be successful. In 2013, the ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) had granted an “Investissements d’Avenir” financing to Global Bioenergies (4 million euros), Arkema (0.8 million euros) and two CNRS laboratories (0.4 million euros). This financing supports the development of Global Bioenergies’ Isobutene process and the use of this isobutene to produce methacrylic acid, a compound notably used in the manufacturing of acrylic paints. It is a three year project running from October 1st 2013 until October 1st 2016. For Global Bioenergies, the project’s objectives included the construction of an industrial pilot in Pomacle-Bazancourt in collaboration with the company Agro-industrie Recherches et Développements (ARD), a subsidiary of the sugar major Cristal Union. The process also had to reach by the end of the first year a level of productivity sufficient to carry out trials in the said pilot. After having successfully built and installed the industrial pilot on schedule, Global Bioenergies confirms today having reached and even significantly surpassed the productivity objective set for October 2014. Concrete proof of the absence of product toxicity—which does not accumulated in the fermenter thanks to its gaseous nature—has also been observed in extended-fermentation tests. This key advantage opens the door to the setting up of a continuous fermentation process associated with reduced operational costs. Denis Thibaut, Head of fermentation declares: “This result has been obtained thanks to two factors: the creation of further improved strains, and the optimization of fermentation protocols enabled by the deployment of a unique fermentation platform in our Laboratories of Evry. The platform counted seven fermenters in 2013 and is now strong of thirty five units.” Charles Nakamura, VP metabolic engineering adds: “Global Bioenergies has made huge strides through the development milestones of its isobutene process. The soon expected large scale trials will establish the industrial value of this breakthrough innovation”.
About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES
Global Bioenergies is one of the few companies worldwide, and the only one in Europe, that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation. The Company initially focused its efforts on the production of isobutene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks that can be converted into fuels, plastics, organic glass and elastomers. Global Bioenergies continues to improve the yield of its process and is actively entering the industrial pilot testing phase. The company recently replicated this success to propylene and butadiene and is also looking to continue with other members of the gaseous olefins family, key molecules at the heart of petrochemical industry. Global Bioenergies is listed on Alternext, Euronext Paris (FR0011052257 – ALGBE) PRESS RELEASE
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