A review of the patent publications from the first half of 2012 indicates that research is coalescing around several types of biofuel materials and precursors. In fact, many of the patent publications reviewed herein focus on increasing efficiency of the production process and producing better versions of starter materials.
In general, when patents and patent applications are reviewed, it is instructive to keep a few points in mind. There are two types of published patent applications—those that have issued and those that have published but are still pending and under examination. This article will primarily focus on patent publications, since those documents are indicative of more recent research and development of biofuels. In fact, the patent applications being published now were first filed between November 2010 and January 2011.
An issued patent has a fixed set of claims at the end of that patent that define the invention regardless of what is included in the detailed description section. Anyone reviewing issued patents for an indication of the actual invention should turn to the claims section first. The detailed description section should primarily be used to provide context of the claims and/or definitions of some of the terms/phrases in the claims. Issued patents are in force 20 years from the filing date, and they give the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, and/or selling the claimed invention in the country where the patent issued.
Published patent applications are useful to provide notice to the general public and/or competitors as to potential future patents and their scope. Between the filing date or priority date of the application and the publication date, the patent application is not published, and therefore, not readily available to the public for review.
Inventors use pending patent publications to put likely competitors on notice that they may have enforceable patent rights at some point in the future. Competitors use patent publications to scope out the technology landscape. It is important to note, however, that the existence of a patent publication does not necessarily mean that a patent will issue from that application or that the final issued set of claims will be the same or resemble the claims in the publication. These publications should primarily be used for notice and information purposes.
Patent applications filed prior to the beginning of 2009 had a significant focus on new biofuel starter materials, along with new and streamlined processes. As mentioned above, the publications emerging in 2011 and 2012 appear to be shifting in the direction of working with known biofuel materials and improving the material and/or the process. There are also groups of publications focused on fuel optimization through the addition of other components and/or better engine design. At the outset, please note that this article is not advocating or determining the patentability of any of these technologies. The content of this article is directed to an objective summary of some of the biofuel-related patent art.
This article will touch on three different categories of biofuel and biofuel-related patents and publications. Specifically, the following topics are discussed: increasing the efficiency of the biofuel production process; new or modified biofuel starter materials; fermenters used in the production of biofuels; and biofuels applications.
Process Efficiency
This category regularly makes up the largest class of patents, patent publications, and journal articles, primarily because it is often easier to optimize the production of existing and known biofuels, as opposed to developing and testing potential new biofuels.
US Patent Publication 2012/0115192
, Method for Production of Fermentable Sugars from Biomass
(inventor: Arvind Mallinath Lali et al.; May 10, 2012), discloses a multi-enzyme, multi-step system to produce fermentable sugars from biomass. The inventors state that the process results in “higher efficiency and better economics” than conventional processes. Contemplated processes involve two enzyme treatments where a hemicellulose and/or cellulose is treated with at least one enzyme from a first group and the product of that treatment is then treated with at least one enzyme from a second group of enzymes to obtain the fermentable sugars. The inventors state that when parameters such as temperature, pressure, pH, solvent used, and time of contact are optimized, more than 90% conversion is obtained within a few hours.
US Patent Publication 2012/0107888
, Modulation of fermentation products through vitamin supplementation
(inventors: Matthias Schmalisch, et al.; assignee: Qteros, Inc; May 3, 2012) teaches a method of improving the yield of a biofuel by vitamin supplementation during the process. As part of the process, a genetically modified microorganism is claimed that is adapted for decreased vitamin dependency that “ferments a biomass to produce one or more fermentation end-products.” In another embodiment, a method of producing one or more fermentation end-products is described that includes: “(a) providing a biomass in a medium; (b) contacting the medium with a genetically modified microorganism adapted for decreased vitamin dependency, wherein said microorganism comprises a genetic modification that decreases vitamin dependency; and; (c) allowing sufficient time for the microorganism to produce the fermentation end-products from the biomass.” The contemplated “genetic modification comprises one or more heterologous polynucleotides that encode for enzymes in one or more metabolic pathways, wherein the metabolic pathways comprise a thiamine metabolic pathway, a nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolic pathway, a vitamin B6 metabolic pathway, a one carbon pool by folate pathway, or a combination thereof.”
US Patent Publication 2012/107792
, Systems and methods for delivery of gases to algal cultures
(inventors: Guy Robert Babbitt, et al.; May 3, 2012), discloses photobioreactors and related processes that are designed to deliver “nutrient gas” intermittently to the target media. These gases can be delivered in a selected pattern or cycle. One example is that alga is grown in a photobioreactor using a targeted and directed introduction of carbon dioxide. The inventors state that one or more different gases may be used with target cultures and one of the important factors is the pattern and/or cycle of the introduction of gases, along with the duration of gas introduction.
Improvements in Current Starter Materials
Despite the fact that there are several biofuel starter materials that are viable, mature, non-food based and widely-studied, new potential biofuel materials and/or modified mature biofuel materials are being studied. Many of these biofuel starter materials are cropping up because of a particular type of regional crop or a need to produce biofuels that can be utilized near the source of the crops. Many of the new publications are focusing on altering the structure of conventional materials in order to make them easier and/or less costly to process, increase biofuel yield, or a combination thereof.
US Patent Publication 2012/0117686
, Stress-tolerant plants expressing mannosylglycerate-producing enzymes
(inventors: Henrik Scheller, et al.; assignees: The Regents of the University of California, Aarhus University, and the University of Copenhagen; and made with support from the US Department of Energy; May 10, 2012) discloses plants that have been genetically modified to have increased levels of mannosylglycerate and to have enhanced tolerance to stressers or extreme conditions, such as drought. The inventors disclose that mannosylglycerate is known to be an effective thermoprotectant in that it “stabilizes proteins and prevents their denaturation and aggregation under stressful conditions.” This type of work is fairly typical in this class of biofuels patents, in that many starter materials have been identified and tested, but are insufficient for year-round growth or growth in what otherwise may be good growing areas. Therefore, many known starter materials are being modified in order to make them heartier, more stable to extremes, and/or easier to grow or harvest.
New and/or Improved Fermenters
The number of the patent publications from the first half of 2012 indicates that research on starter material fermentation and “fermenters” is increasing. Previous articles in this series have focused on 2011 patent publications related to fermenters, and there have been several publications already in 2012.
US Patent Publication 2012/0117694
, Novel monolignol 4-O-methyltransferases and uses thereof
(inventors: Chang-Jun Liu, et al.; assignee: Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC; and made with support from the US Department of Energy; May 10, 2012), teaches modified (iso)eugenol 4-O-methyltransferase enzymes that can be utilized to manage plant lignification for potential improvement of the feedstock for liquid transportation fuel. These enzymes are characterized by the inventors as “non-natural lignin monomers that diminish lignin cross-linking and polymerization” by ultimately reducing lignin content in the cell wall. This type of work is seen in both the fermenters and algae fields, which are attempting to reach the full feedstock production potential of a starter material.
US Patent Publication 2012/0094362
, Production of branched-chain alcohols by photosynthetic microorganisms
(inventors: Paul Gordon Roessler, et al.; assignee: Synthetic Genomics, Inc; April 19, 2012), discloses “genes, polypeptides and expression constructs therefor, recombinant photosynthetic microorganisms, and method of use thereof, such as for the production of branched-chain alcohols (including 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and isobutanol) and derivatives thereof” for the production of biofuels. The claims of the application recite that a recombinant photosynthetic microorganism comprises at least one heterologous nucleic acid sequence that encodes a branched-chain 2-ketoacid decarboxylase that is selected from the group consisting of a Saccharomyces cerevisae PDC1 gene product, a Pichia stipitis PDC1 gene product, a Saccharomyces cerevisae PDC5 gene product, a Saccharomyces cerevisae PDC6 gene product, a Saccharomyces cerevisae AR010 gene product, a Saccharomyces cerevisae THIS gene product, a Pichia stipitis PDC3-6 Kivd gene product, a Pichia stipitis PDC2 gene product, a Mycobacterium tuberculosis KDC gene product, a Lactococcus lactis KDCa gene product, and a variant or homolog of any thereof.
Biofuels Applications
US Patent Publication 2012/0116103
, Method for purifying lipid material
(inventors: Mervi Hujanen, et al.; assignee: Neste Oil Oyj; May 10, 2012), discloses methods of removing nutrients from a biofuel production process. The inventors state that one of the disadvantages to converting algae to biofuels is the need to recycle leftover nutrients, such as phosphorus, from the oil in order to improve the final biofuel. Metal impurities can also be removed by the same disclosed processes. Contemplated processes involve: a) providing a lipid material that includes acylglycerols and phosphorus impurities, along with at least one liquid nonpolar solvent and at least one liquid polar solvent such that a two phase system is formed; b) heating the two phase system at a pressure so that the solvents are in a subcritical state; and c) separating and recovering the nonpolar phase that includes the acylglycerols. This patent focuses on an area of research that is growing in the biofuel space—increasing the purity of biofuels.
Over the last three years, it is clear that a majority of the biofuel-related patent applications being filed are directed to new production processes or making the current conventional processes more efficient and/or productive. The other group of applications that is increasing is related to fermenters. There is no apparent decrease in the number of biofuels-related patent applications, and it is highly likely that this trend with continue well into 2012 and 2013.
