Biofuels Leaders Speak Out for Technology

New technologies can boost production of biofuels without threatening the world's food supplies, according to industry leaders speaking at the fifth annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Chicago, US.

Biotech industry executives gathered at the conference eager to promote the biofuels industry, which has been demonised by higher food prices, writes Reuters.

According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, biotechnology in the US has expanded the productivity of farmers by 30 percent while developments in technology in Europe will boost the industry further.

"Developments in cellulose technology, which produces ethanol from non-food sources, are ready to be used in refining plants now," Danish biofuels company Genencor CEO Tjerk de Ruiter told reporters.

Genencor, a unit of Denmark's Danisco A/S, is currently developing a system that uses enzymes to break down cellulosic materials in the production of biofuels.

Genencor's technology, which can be used on leftovers of agricultural products such as corn, still needs to be tested on a large scale to see if it is profitable.

According to projections by the US Government, nearly 25 percent of the US corn crop will be used for ethanol this year, up from 20 percent last year.

By staff writer