BIO e CON raises €1m to develop prototype biomass-based fuel cell I n the Netherlands, BIO e CON -a pioneer in the field of non-edible biomass conversion -has raised an additional E1 million (US$1.4 million) from existing shareholders, including a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Economic affairs. The funding will be used to design and build a prototype fuel cell which can convert cellulosic biomass directly into electricity.
This BiCEPS (Biomass Conversion to Electrical Power Systems) concept has been under development in cooperation with Eindhoven University of Technology, through the research group of Professor Rutger van Santen, who recently was succeeded by Professor Emiel Hensen. The fuel cell prototype will be built by a team led by Dr Hans Heinerman, BIO e CON's business development director.
An independent, privately funded venture, BIO e CON brings together a network of leading scientists and technologists in catalysis and hydrocarbon chemistry. This expertise is being applied to develop new technology to convert biomass -in particular the recalcitrant polymeric biomass residue -in a more efficient and costeffective way to valuable molecules which can be utilized by the chemical and fuel industries. This is BIO e CON's third breakthrough technology since its formation in 2006. In 2007 it formed the KiOR joint venture, financed by Khosla Ventures, to develop and commercialize Biomass Catalytic Cracking (BCC), a process in which biomass waste can be converted into transportation fuels. Then in 2009 it entered into a joint development agreement with the Brazilian energy giant Petrobras, to scale up and commercialize the BiCHEM process, in which cellulosic biomass is converted into platform chemicals suitable for polymers and/or fuel additives.