Biofuel industry speeds up enzyme demand

As a result of the booming biofuel industry, the US enzyme demand, which amounted to $1.6 billion in 2005, is expected to reach $2.2 billion by 2010, according to a recent market study by the Freedonia Group.

Overall market growth in enzymes through 2010 will be 6.9% annually. Right now, the enzyme market is focused on production of ethanol fuels from corn and other biomass, which is strongly encouraged by the US government.
There are two enzyme markets for ethanol, says Jack Huttner, vice president of biorefinery business at major enzyme producer Genencor International, a unit of Denmark’s Danisco. The first, he says, is an existing (and booming) worldwide market for enzymes that break down starch from corn and other crops into simple sugars that can be fermented into ethanol. Still in the development pipeline, he adds, are enzymes that will be needed to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass such as corn stalks, prairie grass and wood chips. This cellulose-to-ethanol industry “doesn’t yet exist,” says Huttner. But the advanced enzymes required for this application, he adds, are “one of the most exciting future markets.”

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