Lignocellulose Hydrolyzing Enzyme Cocktail(s) for Biorefinery Applications

Enzyme Cocktail

India’s reliance on imported crude oil and its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions are driving the push for ethanol blending in gasoline, targeting 20% by 2025. To meet and exceed this target, lignocellulosic biomass must be utilized for ethanol production, requiring efficient and affordable enzymes to convert biomass into fermentable sugars. An indigenously developed enzyme cocktail, combining cellulase and beta-glucosidase, delivers performance on par with the best global alternatives. The solid-state fermentation process used for enzyme production is cost-effective and has been successfully tested at a pilot scale, making it viable for biomass biorefineries.

  • Advantages :
    • High Hydrolysis Efficiency: Achieves over 80% efficiency in breaking down pretreated rice straw and sugarcane bagasse
    • Cost-Effective Process: Uses solid-state fermentation, reducing CAPEX and achieving a mare concentrated product
    • Adaptability: Enzyme cocktail can be customized for different types of lignocellulosic biomass in biorefineries
  • 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.