SG Biofuels vs TMO Renewables: Who's the best?

Background: This is a first round, International Regional match-up between #7 seed SG Biofuels and #10 seed TMO Renewables in the 2011 Transformative Technologies tourney, from Biofuels Digest.

Voting: Open to all Biofuels Digest subscribers. Voting links are in the Biofuels Digest daily newsletter. To subscribe (free), visit here.

The winner gets: Most votes advances to the second-round (round of 32), and a shot at the Biofuels Sweet Sixteen.

The loser: Goes home.

Laurels: SG is the 37th ranked company in the 2010-11 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy poll. TMO is currently unranked.

The match-up: Two key players in the development of advanced biofuels, one now deploying in China, one in India.

TMO is licensor of a cellulosic microbe that produces up to 15 percent more ethanol than traditional fermentation technology, and reduces energy inputs in the fermentation and distillation process. As Diverso partner Jonathan Glen said, “Among cellulosic technologies, we looked at acid hydrolysis, which has been around for a while. The problems we saw: the cost is high and we saw pollution concerns. With enzymatic hydrolysis, we saw the search on for the magic enzyme, but so much of the work ends up being very specific to feedstock. Mascoma is using a similar type of technology, that helps them break down C5 C6 sugars. We liked what we saw at TMO, because instead of focusing on better enzymes, they had a thermophile, with a wide ranging appetite. The company is run by an ex-oilman and chemical engineer, and has a tech team with success in bio.”

SG Biofuels is a bioenergy crop company using molecular breeding and biotechnology to develop elite, hybrid seeds of Jatropha.  The company has sold more than 250,000 acres of its hybrid Jatropha seed, including orders from two of the top 20 largest energy companies in the world. The SG-Life Technologies partnership has successfully sequenced the Jatropha curcas genome, using the SOLiD™ 4.0 System by Life Technologies.