Ind. biofuel firm reaches ethanol licensing deal

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. A Purdue University-based company has reached a deal giving Chinese and Danish firms access to a patented product that makes it easier to turn wood chips, grasses and other agricultural wastes into ethanol.

Green Tech America Inc. signed a licensing agreement Wednesday in Beijing with China's COFCO Corp. and Denmark's Novozymes A/S. The deal allows those two firms to use the Indiana company's patented yeast product to make cellulosic ethanol in their plants in China.

The yeast product boosts the efficiency of making ethanol from wood chips, grasses and agricultural wastes like corn stalks. It was developed by a team led by Purdue chemical engineering researcher Nancy W. Y. Ho, who founded Green Tech America.

source: chicagotribune