With its innovative patented technology, UltraClean, LS9 Inc. is producing low cost sustainable chemicals and renewable fuels. LS9 was founded in 2005 and is a privately-held biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. LS9 is one of the few companies that produce sustainable fuels and chemicals that are engineered to be environmentally friendly and cost competitive.
Currently, LS9's pilot facility produces clean renewable biotech fuels that closely resemble petroleum fuels and significantly reduce manufacturing carbon footprint. The company’s novel process has caught the attention of Proctor Gamble, one of the world's largest consumer products companies. Proctor Gamble recently partnered with LS9 to jointly develop and commercialize LS9 technology for use in the production of key consumer chemicals.
In this exlusive interview CEO Bill Haywood shares LS9's strategy and pathway to clean energy.
A New Technology to Produce Low Carbon Fuels and Chemicals
LS9’s approach is to take renewable feedstock such as cane sugar and turning it into very clean low carbon fuels and chemicals. The “metabolic pathway” in a host organism, E.coli bacteria, is engineered genetically for that purpose. The bacteria is enhanced to speed up the conversion of sugar into high quality fuels and chemicals. This process addresses two fundamental environmental issues: climate change and dwindling oil resources.
LS9 stresses that the idea is to grow renewable feedstock to produce fuels is not meant to compete with food production and to grow it in such a manner that it needs less land. Cane, for example does not require much water or fertilizer and grows naturally in areas with a sub tropical climate. “We are really going back to nature for this solution,” explains Bill Haywood, CEO of LS9.
“This is not just a benefit for the U.S. market. If we can have small countries with a lack of natural oil resources in the ground start growing bio mass to generate their own fuel it would have a positive effect on their economy and lead to a decrease in dependency on Middle Eastern oil.”
LS9 Partners with Consumer Giant Proctor Gamble to Produce Green Chemicals
While LS9 has been focused much on fuels the chemicals (fatty alcohols) are also being developed which resulted in the partnership with Proctor Gamble. The consumer giant has invested tens of millions of dollars in LS9 to produce “green” surfactants (cleaning agents, soaps). This is a great boost for the California start-up.
LS9’s technology is in perfect alignment with Proctor Gamble’s strategy to significantly reduce and replace crude derived feedstock with sustainable feedstock . LS9 promises to reproduce Proctor Gamble’s hydrocarbon building blocks, possibly reducing their carbon footprint by as much as 80% within the next 15 years.
Scaling Biodiesel Technology for Mass Market
LS9 Inc. is rapidly working to commercialize and scale its production capabilities to meet mass market demands. LS9 has proven their concept and technology for producing biodiesel and are now looking to scale up by adding a demonstration plant. The planned demonstration plant will be further proof that LS9 can eventually scale their technology to the mass market. The initial cost was estimated north of $70 Mio.
Given the economic climate and the need to expedite scale up, LS9 is pursuing more cost effective options including renting demonstration plants or purchasing some economical equipment resulting from some stranded plants in the U.S.
In fact, LS9 revealed to Suite101 that the company has a very promising opportunity to purchase an already existing plant at a reduced cost but would not say where as of yet. Additionally, LS9 has just applied for a multi million dollar Government Integrated Biorefinery grant which would cover 80% of the retrofit and operating cost associated with a demonstration plant.
“We have set very disciplined milestones and have to make sure science and business goals are aligned around these milestones, “ explains Haywood. “We want to be commercially relevant which means we plan to complete our scale up by early 2011. This gives us 2010 for further testing the technology at the larger scale assuming all goes well with securing a demonstration plant.”
Those anticipated results will set the basis for LS9’s first large scale plant. By 2013 the company expects to have such a commercial plant in Brazil because the cost of cane is the lowest in Brazil. LS9 expects to produce at $45 per barrel crude oil equivalent when the first large scale plant is up and running. The company certainly has a tight business plan and aggressive timeline given the fact that they are venturing into unchartered territory.
Britta Stromeyer Esmail - Britta is a bilingual business management professional and executive coach with extensive domestic and international experience in the ...
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