ExxonMobil, Renewable Energy, Clariant To Advance Cellulosic Biofuel Research

(RTTNews) - Oil & gas giant ExxonMobil (XOM) and Renewable Energy Group (REG) announced Wednesday that they have signed a joint research agreement with Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant AG (CLZNY.PK, CRN.L, CLZNF.PK).

In the Cellulosic Biofuel Research, the companies would evaluate the potential use of cellulosic sugars from sources such as agricultural waste and residues to produce biofuel, which has the potential to play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The new partnership expands a previously announced agreement for joint research between ExxonMobil and REG. In that deal, the companies successfully validated the ability of REG Life Sciences bio-conversion technology to convert sugars from cellulosic biomass into biodiesel through a single-step process.

The companies noted that the latest agreement with Clariant allows ExxonMobil and REG to further optimize REG's bio-conversion process using previously tested and benchmarked cellulosic sugars created through Clariant's sunliquid process.

The companies' ultimate objective is to combine Clariant's and REG's processes into a seamless cellulosic biomass-to-biodiesel technology.

The partners will also work on a conceptual engineering study to validate the feasibility of the integrated process comprising the technologies of all parties.