Lignocellulose Hydrolyzing Enzyme Cocktail(s) for Biorefinery Applications

Enzyme Cocktail

Application of the enzyme cocktail is for hydrolysis of biomass (Pretreated agro-residue feedstock) for production of fermentable sugars, that can be fermented to ethanol or to any other fermented products including organic acids (eg succinic acid, lactic acid) in biorefineries

  • Advantages :

    Indigenous enzyme cocktail, hydrolysis efficiency on pretreated rice straw and sugar cane bagasse is above 80%, process for production is solid state fermentation which is less technically intensive and with low capital investment, low downstream process cost, overall lower cost of production, can be tailored for different biomass types

  • Commerical Status :
  • Technology Readiness Level : Technology Development Industrial Application :
  • Research Area :
  • Description :India imports 90% of its crude oil requirement and is the 3rd largest emitter of GHGs in the world. Our commitment to reduce CO2 emissions, both at 2015 Paris convention and COP 26, 2022 requires significant reductions in petroleum consumption, proposed to be achieved majorly by ethanol blending in gasoline. This requires significant quantities of bioethanol to be produced in the country so as to achieve the 20% ethanol blending in petrol target by 2025. While the target is proposed to be met through diversification of 1G feedstock, increasing the blending beyond 20% would require the use of lignocellulosic feedstock for ethanol production, and therefore biomass based biorefineries. The commercial viability of biomass biorefineries is significantly impacted by availability of efficient and cost effective cellulases that brake down biomass to fermentable sugars. While about 12, 2nd generation plants have been proposed with one of them from IOCL commissioned recently, most of the proposed biorefineries rely on imported enzymes. There is a serious need to have indigenous biomass hydrolyzing enzymes which are efficient and cost effective.  The enzyme cocktail developed by NIIST using cellulase and beta glucosidase (BGL) from fungi Penicilium janthinellum from NCL and Aspergillus niger from NIIST respectively is proved to perform at par with the best enzymes available for biomass hydrolysis and can fill this need effectively. The solid state fermentation technology for production of both the enzyme have been tested successfully at pilot scale.