Ethanol’s Bad Name
It’s interesting to watch the ongoing debate between food producers and ethanol manufacturers. A recent spat, reported here and here, boiled over into some name calling, with an anti-ethanol group deriding the 30th anniversary of ethanol subsidies by referring to ethanol as a “30-year-old under employed child” living in our basement.
The anti-ethanol campaign has, of course, scored a number of points and has, by many accounts, slanted public opinion against food-based ethanol. An interesting sign of this occurred today when the company formerly known as SunEthanol announced that it has changed its name to Qteros, austensibly to reflect the name of its key technology, the Q microbe - a super bug that efficiently processes non-food cellulosic material to generate biofuel. While Qteros does not use corn or other food-based feed stock, it is interesting to see that they have moved away from the name “ethanol” given the bad press surrounding the term. Does anyone really think Qteros changed its name to more accurately reflect it’s dedication to the Q microbe?
The discovery of the Q microbe - by a University of Massachusetts professor in the woods of Massachusetts - raises an interesting question regarding patentable subject matter. Can a company patent a microbe found in the woods? A product found in the identical state in nature is not patentable subject matter. It is not possible, therefore, for the professor to patent the Q microbe specifically. But that is not to say a patent cannot be obtained covering the heart of her discovery - the manufacture of biofuel using Q microbe. The exercise is merely a matter of how you claim that discovery.
For example, looking at the patent that was actually filed on this discovery, the inventor claims a method of making a fuel from biomass material using the following steps:
- Provide a biomass material comprising a high molecular weight carbohydrate;
- Hydrolyzing the biomass material;
- Combine the hydrolyzed biomass material with the Q microbe; and
- Fermenting the hydrolyzed biomass material under conditions and for a time sufficient to produce a fuel.
The inventor will not get a patent covering the microbe per se, but can obtain a patent covering the important part of her discovery - using Q microbe to make biofuel.
After reviewing the algae-to-oil technology, its nice to see a patent was at least filed…
