High-Efficiency Fermentation Process for Ethanol Production from Non-Edible Plant Biomass
— Contributing to a Decarbonized Society with World-Leading Conversion Efficiency —

Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., in collaboration with Toyota Motor Corporation, has developed a fermentation process that enables highly efficient ethanol production from non-edible portions of plant biomass. By optimizing the fermentation process for specific types of plant biomass using the yeast strain “TOYOTA XyloAce™” [1], which incorporates our proprietary technology, we achieved a theoretical conversion efficiency exceeding 95% from cellulose and hemicellulose—the main components of non-edible biomass—into ethanol. This level of efficiency is among the highest reported worldwide.

 

The developed fermentation process is currently being applied in a technical demonstration at the bioethanol production research facility of the Next Generation Green CO₂ Fuel Technology Research Association (raBit), which was completed in November 2024. The results of this research will be presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for Biotechnology, Japan, and the 56th Autumn Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan.

 

Key Points of the Research

•  The production of second-generation bioethanol, which offers lower CO₂ emissions and improved environmental performance, has faced challenges due to low conversion efficiency from biomass to ethanol and the vulnerability of conventional yeast strains to fermentation inhibitors.
• In the production of bioethanol using non-edible plant biomass, such as sorghum, the performance of Toyota yeast was significantly enhanced, resulting in world-leading ethanol conversion efficiency.
• The fermentation technology developed using TOYOTA XyloAce™ is currently being utilized at the bioethanol production research facility of the Next Generation Green CO₂ Fuel Technology Research Association.

Note

[1] TOYOTA XyloAce™

Conventional yeast strains are unable to convert xylose, which is generated through the decomposition of hemicellulose, into ethanol. In addition, substances produced during the pretreatment of plant biomass inhibit fermentation, further reducing ethanol conversion efficiency.

TOYOTA XyloAce™ is a proprietary yeast strain that exhibits high tolerance to fermentation inhibitors and is capable of efficiently converting not only glucose but also xylose into ethanol.