Amyris (AMRS) and its largest shareholder, French oil major Total (TTE 0.89%), are joining forces to sell fuel products made from renewable sources. According to a press release issued by Amyris, each holds a 50% stake in the newly formed Total Amyris BioSolutions, which will produce and market renewable diesel and jet fuel. The joint venture will hold the exclusive rights to and a license for Amyris' processes in the production of such goods.
That technology involves, in Amyris' words "using its proprietary synthetic biology platform to design microbes, primarily yeast, and use them as living factories in established fermentation processes to convert plant-sourced sugars into renewable hydrocarbons."
The joint venture's products won't hit the market for some time. In the press release, Amyris quoted Total's president of marketing and services and new energies, Philippe Boisseau, as saying that currently "we are in the phase of scaling-up the industrial process and we expect to start commercialization within the next few years, once our joint research and development goals are met."
