Commercial Opportunities Biomass to Renewable Chemicals

© Green Biologics Inc. 2012 Private and Confidential

Contact:[email protected]

National ConferenceOctober 3, 2012

Commercial Opportunities Biomass to Renewable Chemicals

© Green Biologics Inc. 2012 Private and Confidential 2

© Green Biologics Inc. 2012

Chemical Markets: Global Growth

• Fundamental shift in production economics of petrochemicals

• Volatile oil markets• Shale gas cracking

• Strong global demand for renewable chemicals

• Supply side economics• Reduced carbon footprint

• Long term shift in production infrastructure

• Feedstock / crude sugars driven



Chemical Market Drivers

• Macro trends drive renewable alternatives

• Low carbon footprint• Consumer products that are “Green”

• Technology improvements & collaborations drive renewables

• Pretreatment / Sustainable sugar• Fermentation• Biocatalysts• Co-product recovery



• Global renewable chemicals market is estimated to reach $76.16 billion in 2015*

• CAGR of 12.67% from 2010 to 2015*

• U.S. is the second largest segment, growing at an estimated CAGR of 5.1% to reach $17.5 billion by 2014*

• Products include alcohols, organic chemicals, ketones, polymers, and others

• Used for industrial, transportation, textiles, food safety, environment, communication, housing, recreation, health and other applications

*MarketsandMarkets, 2011

Chemicals: Market Opportunities



Chemicals: Performance and Economics Required

• Must be effective and economical as conventional materials

• Renewable is the differentiation point

• Challenge is to close the gap

According to Lux Research: “Today’s $1 billion biopolymer market to see double-digit growth in the coming years.”







EERE_Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass



Flexible Feedstocks: Projected U.S. Biomass Use



Range of Product Opportunities



• Derived from petroleum today

• Used for paints, coatings, resins, polymers, and solvents

• A direct substitute to petroleum derived butanol

• Competitively priced without subsidy

• $5bn butanol chemicals market

• $50bn biofuels market, growing at 7.5% pa

Butanol: High Value Market Today



A fermentation platform: Clostridium

• Anaerobic organism can be optimized to tolerate oxygen

• Fast growth compared to other anaerobes

• Wide range of substrates(C5, C6, starch, etc.)

• Range of product opportunities

• Ability to grow in simple inexpensive media

• Stability in regard to strain degeneration which offers a solid commercial platform

• Transformation of commercially proven organisms

© Green Biologics Inc. 2012 Private and Confidential

Case Study: Green Biologics Inc.



Green Biologics History

• Merger between butylfuel™ and Green Biologics (2011), creating a global leader in production of renewable n-butanol by fermentation

• GBL - UK based biotechnology company, VC backed, founded in 2003, focused on technology development and optimization

• GBI - North America subsidiary focused on designing, owning, and operating commercial projects

• Global team with proven commercial and technical expertise

• Focus on $5bn chemical market with transition to $50bn biofuel market

• Projects underway at pilot, demonstration and commercial scale



GB’s Leadership in Commercializing Renewable n-Butanol

• Advanced technology

• Feedstock flexible

• Opportunities for multiple products

• Ease of implementation

• Low competition in growing markets



Advanced Technology: Transforming Established Science

• The Clostridial ABE process was developed in Britain in early 20th century by Chaim Weizmann, later the first president of Israel

• Large and growing global industry until the 40s when oil prices dropped

• Still used commercially in Russia and South Africa until the 1980s

• A well-understood reliable process• Petroleum-derived butanol became

cheaper and production ceased

Fermenters in Toronto ABE plant, 1917Picture courtesy of City of Toronto archives

South African ABE plant, circa 1950



Solventogenic Clostridium Species – attractive producers

• Clostridia used in commercial scale manufacture for 100 years.

• Robust• Large substrate range (C5 & C6;

oligomers and polymers)• Non pathogenic or toxic• New strains are aerotolerant.• New strains not readily sporulate.• Produce acetone, butanol,

ethanol, and H2 from sugars &

starches



Advanced Technology: New Developments

• Extensive microbial culture collection• Gram-positive bacterium, spore forming rod, non pathogenic/toxic• Produces ABE and H2 • >130 strains from South Africa, environmental & culture collections

• Superior strains developed (>400 proprietary strains)• Proprietary enzymes• Advanced fermentation process• Strong IP protection



GB’s Intellectual Property

Superior Microbes

Advanced Fermentation

Gas recovery

control

Product recovery

Chemical mutagenesis

Genetic manipulation

barcode

Water recycle

StrainDevelopment

Process Development

Pre-treatment

Hydrolysis

Feedstock Hydrolysis

New Build

Retrofit

Design &Engineering

Culture Collection

• Technology assets (microbial culture collection)• Patents (core IP)• Know how (methods/skills/expertise)

BEST™



Existing TechnologyUnder Development

Fermentation & Solvent Recovery

Saccharification

Molasses

Wheat straw

Corn stover

Glycerine

Bagasse

Corn Starch

Hemi-cellulose

Feedstocks Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis

Pre - treatment

Advanced Technology: Flexible Bioprocessing

Products

Butanol

Ethanol

Acetone

High value chemicals C4 platform

Hydrogen

Butyric Acid

BioJet

Advanced Fermentation

Advanced Solvent Recovery

BEST™

Continuous seed

H2

hydrogen capture



Fed-batch & Continuous Fermentation

• Fed-batch, with BEST™ product removal, doubles solvent titres

• Currently undergoing pilot scale demonstration

• To be deployed for bolt-on

• Continuous culture with BEST™ technology shown at high productivities (>1g/L/hr)

• Bench scale complete, pilot-scale demonstration Q4 2012

• To be deployed for “bolt on”



• Large library of robust commercial production strains• Tolerate oxygen & diverse feedstock inhibitors• Stable & solvent production does not degenerate

• Low by-products• High butanol: solvent ratios (>80%)• Extremely low ethanol (<2%)

• Broad substrate range• Fermentation of C5 sugars allows superior performance• Wide range of monomers & dimers, cellulosic sugars

• Low nutritional requirements• Fast fermentation (complete 36-48hrs: high productivity)

Ease of Implementation



Reducing enzyme costs

• Clostridia have much wider substrate range than yeast

• Produce solvents readily from C5 and C6 sugars, sugar alcohols, sugar oligomers and even some polymers (starch, xylan, pectin)

• Some solventogenic strains have cellulolytic genes. Expressing these in high producing strains

• Clostridia likely able to utilize biomass feedstocks with lower enzyme loads and different enzyme mixtures



The C5 difference

Complements of Dr. David Jones



Sugar cane - $300/t sugar

Ethanol - $800/t

Flexible Feedstocks: Biomass Opportunities

Relatively high-priced feedstocks fermented into relatively low value products

Corn – $300-500/t

sugar

Butanol - $1800/t



Sugar cane - $300/t sugar

Bagasse- $150/t sugar

Ethanol - $800/t

Butanol - $1800/t

Flexible Feedstocks: Biomass Opportunities

GB enables producers to ferment low value feedstocks into high value products

Corn – $300-500/t

sugar

Ag Res./ MSW$50-150/t sugar



Molasses -benchmark

• Use of C5 sugars key to superior performance

Corn stover - enzymatic cellulosic

hydrolysis

Hardwood pulp - hemicellulose

fraction

Sugar cane - bagasse

Flexible Feedstocks

• GB’s organisms can utilize diverse cellulosic feedstocks

Typical Cellulosic Composition

C6 SugarsC5 Sugars

35% 37% 39% 39%

SortedMunicipal Solid

Waste

35%36%



Unique Positioning: Parallel Technology Demonstration

Pilot Demonstration Commercial

Fast track approach allows timely commercialization



North American Opportunities for Deployment

• Leverage ethanol industry/assets• 217 ethanol plants (working/shut down)

• Ethanol to integrated biorefinery

• Bolt-on and retrofit distressed assets

• JV investment opportunities

• Opportunities with existing sugar plants

• Sugar / energy beets and molasses

• Sweet sorghum and energy sorghum

• Leverage pulp & cellulosic industry/assets• Bolt-on and retrofit distressed assets

• JV investment opportunities

Multiple bolt-on opportunities2012 Top 10 Prediction:

“Ethanol producers begin switch to biobutanol and

chemicals en masse”



North America Biorefinery Options

• Bolt On to Existing Ethanol Asset • Ease of deployment• Value added to existing asset• Transformation to a biorefining complex

• Phase 2 Addition of Cellulose conversion• Fermentation Including both C5 and C6 sugars• Proven on wide range of cellulosic feedstocks• Ability to operate on cellulose or original bolt on corn mash• Evolutionary biorefining with corn or cellulose feed



Ethanol Bolt-On Opportunity Utilizing Cellulosic Feedstocks

GBL Fermentation

GBL Distillation

GBL Solids & Evaporation

GBL Butanol storage & loadout

Protein solids to DDGS

But

anol

& A

ceto

ne

Eth

anol

Bolt on Scope Phase 1Thin Stillage

Pretreat to monomer sugars

Biomass Receiving and storage

Cellulose Scope Phase 2



Oxo-Chemicals (C4) Platform



Butanol – a Product of Choice

• Market size ($5bn chemical market, $50bn biofuels market)

• Fast global market growth for renewable n-butanol

• Proven technology (pilot to commercial scale)

• Profitability (ethanol $800/t versus butanol $1800/t)

• Opportunity for a range of low capital solutions (bolt-on or repurpose)

• Flexibility of feedstock and end product opportunities



Summary: Commercializing Renewable n-Butanol

• Attractive markets • 10 billion lbs. chemical market, biofuel opportunities

• GB’s technology leadership • World leader in ABE fermentation technology • Extensive microbial culture collection• Advanced fermentation process

• Multiple feedstock and product opportunities• C5 & C6 sugars• Proven on wide range of cellulosic feedstock

• Attractive implementation options• Process engineering designs for “bolt on” & retrofit• Demonstrated technology• Enables high return, low Capex solutions• Know-how from working across global customer base

• Effective & Economical in growing markets

.



Questions

Contact:[email protected]

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