Products

Commercialization

We intend to commercialize our first chemical products starting in 2011 using contract manufacturers, while continuing to scale up our technology at our own facilities in both in Brasil and the US.

U.S. Commercialization
Using funds provided by a Department of Energy (DOE) Integrated Biorefinery grant, we intend to explore commercial domestic production of Amyris Renewable Diesel from sweet sorghum – a high-impact feedstock with domestic potential in excess of 100 million dry tons per year. Our US Pilot Plant located in Emeryville, California, is funded in part by this grant.

The U.S Pilot Plant allows us to expose our strains to conditions that simulate a commercial production environment as we scale up production of Amyris Renewable Diesel, an advanced biofuel registered for use by the US EPA and covered by an issued US patent. Secondary products will include lubricants, polymers and other petro-chemical substitutes. These secondary products are derived from the same C15 fermentation intermediate as Amyris Renewable Diesel, providing opportunities to de-risk commercial production.

Brasil Commercialization
Our pilot plant is strategically located Campinas, Brasil, at the gateway to the sugarcane processing region. The pilot plant facilitates the adaptation of our technology to the Brasilian production environment.

Also in Campinas is our demonstration plant, a 13,000-square-foot facility built to conduct scale-up, demonstration, and optimization of all Amyris fuels and chemicals manufacturing processes under Brasilian production conditions. Our demo plant equipment, including two 5,000-liter fermentors, allows for final validation of design and manufacturing processes, as well as the production of Amyris products under conditions representing full-scale manufacturing.

Amyris is also establishing production capabilities through partnerships with sugar and ethanol producers. Because our production process requires much of the same equipment used to produce ethanol, Amyris is able to leverage existing mill infrastructure while offering mill owners the opportunity to grow and diversify their product base. Our first such facility will be located in Pradopolis, Brasil as part of a joint venture with Usina São Martinho and is scheduled to be in full production of Amyris renewable products by the second quarter of 2012.