Nippon Oil to develop lower cost ethanol technology

Nippon Oil will start efforts to develop a lower-cost technology to extract ethanol from wood biomass such as cellulose, hoping to pave the way for a practical widespread use of bioethanol. The company aims to reduce costs to a level competitive with gasoline by optimizing the glycosylation of cellulosic materials, modifying existing fermentation process technology and adopting completely new technology. Fermentation of grain crops like corn and sugar-based plants like sugarcane is currently the most common ethanol production method, but there are concerns about its long-term implication to food production and increased environmental deterioration due to the development of agricultural land. (August 31, 2006)