February 3, 2010The
University of Queensland (UQ) has entered into a new agreement with an American alternative energy company to turn Queensland sugar cane into jet biofuel.
Researchers from UQ's
Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN) will work with US firm
Amyris Biotechnologies Inc to explore potential business opportunities for the new fuel.
AIBN Director Professor Peter Gray says the importance of the agreement was reinforced when Queensland Premier Anna Bligh took time to visit the company and officially witness the agreement on her recent visit to the US.
“This agreement positions the AIBN at the forefront of research into sustainable fuels of the future,” Gray says.
“Sustainable aviation fuel is a global issue with enormous opportunity and the AIBN is please to make this strategic alliance,” he says.
The agreement, which was signed at the San Francisco offices of Amyris on January 20, means AIBN researchers, led by Professor Lars Nielsen, will be able to collaborate on synthetic biology projects with Amyris scientists.
“Amyris is a world leader in the exciting new field of synthetic biology, which enables the reprogramming of micro-organism to synthesise specific products,” Nielsen says.
“Amyris has already successfully used synthetic biology to produce yeast cells which cost-effectively produce artemisin, a potent anti-malarial product,” he says.
The partnership allows Professor Nielsen and his team at AIBN to work in a collaborative fashion with Amyris scientists to develop yeast cells capable of converting sugar (sucrose) into long chain alkanes of use in sustainable jet fuels.
