Codexis and Shell have collaborated to develop new biofuels.

Royal Dutch Shell has joined with Codexis Inc. to research and develop enzymes to improve the conversion of raw materials into high-performance fuels.

Shell will also, as part of the collaboration with Codexis, make an equity investment in the company and sit on the company board.

Biofuels conventionally use food crops. The development by Shell and Codexis will focus on the ‘next generation of biofuels’ using non-food bio materials, new conversion processes and alternative fuel products.

Dr Graeme Sweeney, Shell Executive Vice President Future Fuels and CO2, said: “Breaking down and converting to alternative, non-food bio material into high quality fuels for transport is complex. Processing efficiently at scale, in terms of both cost and CO2 production, is challenging. This exciting research work into new powerful enzymes for more efficient conversion and better biofuels is part of Shell accelerating its drive to make next-generation biofuels a commercial reality.”

Biofuel will most probably, in the future, act as an alternative to transport fuel. It offers the potential to slow the rate of growth in the world’s CO2 production and uses non-food organic raw materials to avoid competition for agricultural land – an issue Oxfam has voiced concerns about (click here to read the full story about Oxfam’s biofuel concerns).

In other sectors, Codexis has also used its enzyme technology to improve the manufacturing processes for leading pharmaceutical companies such as Merck and Pfizer.