Carbon Sciences Achieves Breakthrough in Biocatalyst Design

Carbon Sciences the developer of a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into gasoline and other fuels, announced a significant technical development in increasing the functional life of key enzymes used in the company’s biocatalytic CO2 to fuel process. This development not only accelerates the pace of commercialization, but also will result in lower cost fuel.

In most biocatalytic processes, the key component is the active organic enzymes that catalyze specific reactions. Enzymes are very expensive, and the commercial viability of any biocatalytic process is dependent on the number of cycles the enzymes can perform before they must be replaced. This is known in the industry as the Total Turnover Number (TTN) of a biocatalytic process. A higher process TTN means that more products can be produced with the same fixed cost of enzymes — thereby lowering the cost per unit of product. For Carbon Sciences, a higher TTN in its biocatalytic CO2 to fuel process directly translates to a lower cost per gallon of gasoline and other fuels.

Carbon Sciences’ chief technology officer, Dr. Naveed Aslam, commented on this breakthrough, “We continue to increase the TTN of our CO2 to fuel process through a proprietary technology that encapsulates the enzymes in a protective shell. This protective shell significantly increases the activity and functional life of the enzymes. Our enzyme encapsulation technology gives us great confidence in the cost effectiveness of our CO2 to fuel process and moves us closer to commercial viability. The implication of a significantly higher TTN is profound.”

Dr. Aslam was recently featured in a cover page story entitled, “Catalyst – Seeking the Next Big Thing,” in the Chemical Week magazine, the world’s leading source of news and analysis for key professionals concerned with the chemical, petrochemical, specialty chemicals and related industries.

About Carbon Sciences, Inc.

Carbon Sciences Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the basic fuel building blocks required to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other fuels. Innovating at the intersection of chemical engineering and bio-engineering disciplines, we are developing a highly scalable biocatalytic process to meet the fuel needs of the world. Our solution to energy and climate challenges is to enable a sustainable world of fuel consumption and climate stability by recycling CO2 into fuel. For example, Carbon Sciences’ breakthrough technology can be used to recycle CO2 emitted from fossil fuel power plants into gasoline to run cars and jet fuel to fly aircraft. To learn more about the Company, please visit our website at http://www.carbonsciences.com.