From make-up to jet fuel: Breakthrough for Global Bioenergies

What does eye shadow have to do with biojet fuel? A lot, if you ask Global Bioenergies, a Evry-based biotech that is known for having developed a process to convert plant-derived resources into a key family of ingredients used in the cosmetics industry. Now, they have refined the process to the extent that they consider it feasible to use it in the mass production of biofuels in future.

Until now, the process worked well and in a replicable fashion, but performances seemed to have hit a ceiling. A long-term study showed that a specific component, produced in low volumes, was quietly poisoning the strain during the production phase. We were able to construct new strains that were virtually free of this poison, unleashing big gains in process performance, explained Romain Chayot, Head of the Strain Construction Department.

Pierre Monsan, pioneer in industrial biology and Director at Global Bioenergies, added: The process thus moves us a step closer to achieving optimal continuous performance, the holy grail in our field of industrial biology. Besides the scientific achievement, we are now getting close to having the cheapest production costs in the field, and becoming a big player in the emerging global competition for biojet fuel.

The first flight with the biojet fuel already took place this year. The company had been working with SkyNRG to get theid technology approved for air travel by ASTM, the international regulator for aviation biofuel. Global Bioenergies expect to get the certification for commercial flights in 2022.

The company has long had the aim of making a positive environmental impact on a global scale. It is building a production unit at Pomacle site near Reims. The unit will come onstream in the first quarter 2022 with annual capacity of around 100 tonnes. However, a larger plant is also in the works for 2024, which will be able to produce thousands of tonnes.