BIOMASS MEETING THE

BIOTECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE

DEVELOPING A
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
SOURCE THROUGH
ENTERPRISING R&D

biomass conversion is an industrial and technological

challenge thatmust reconcile the following
requirements:

o help meet growing global energy demand,

Total is working to develop new energies that
emit less greenhouse gas and can partner the
oil and gas we supply. Biomass makes up around
10% (1) of theworld energy consumption and is
currently used mostly for heating andcooking. Itis
theonly renewable alternative to fossil fuels for transportation fuels, such as biodiesel, bioethanol and
bio-jet fuel, for lubricants, and for the building block
molecules used by the chemical industry to produce
solvents and polymers.
Together with solar, biomass is a strategic growth
area for Total in new energies. We have launched
s everal ambitious R&D programs and formed
innovative industrial partnerships to identify, test
andcommercially scale up the most socially,
environmentally andeconomically promising biomass
conversion pathways. In our view, large-scale

Technical performance: Technological differentiation and compatibility with current equipment and
industrial processes.
Environmental performance: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating deforestation and
soil erosion, and protecting the natural environment
and the water cycle.
Social acceptability: Compatibility with the food
needs of populations and a driver of economic and
social development in host country communities.
Economic viability.

ABUNDANT, RENEWABLE AND STORABLE, BIOMASS IS A SUSTAINABLE

SOLUTION TO THE PLANETS GROWING ENERGY NEEDS. TOTAL IS FULLY
COMMITTED TO BIOMASS, THROUGH INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS AND
ENTERPRISING RESEARCH PROGRAMS.

international partnerships with universities and private

laboratories and acquired equity interests in innovative
start-ups.

BiomassR&D demands a wide range of technical and

scientific capabilities, in biology, genetics, chemistry,
agronomy and more. Through an open innovation
research strategy, Total has entered into a number of
(1) IEA, World Energy Outlook 2012.

CO 2
PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Sugar
beets
PLANT
SUGARS
AND
STARCH

BIOCHEMICAL
PATHWAY
(pages 8 and 9)

EXTRACTION

Sugar
cane

Grains

SUGARS

Wood

LIGNOCELLULOSIC
SUGARS

Farming
waste
(straw,
bagasse
and corn
stover)
Energy
plants
(miscanthus)

DECONSTRUCTION - JBEI(1), Futurol(2)

PHOTOTROPHIC
PATHWAY
(pages 10 and 11)

MICROALGAE

SELECTION AND GENETICS - CEA

Microalgae

(1) Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) in the U.S.

(2) Partnership between Agro-Industrie Recherches et Dveloppements, Champagne Crales, Confdration Gnrale des Planteurs de Betteraves,
Crdit Agricole du Nord-Est, IFP nergies Nouvelles, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), Lesaffre, Office National des Forts
(ONF), Tereos, Total and Unigrains.
(3) Galactic/Total joint venture.

TOTAL IS CONDUCTING A VARIETY OF R&DPROJECTS TOBECOME

PROFICIENT IN THE TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED TODEVELOP BIOMASS
CONVERSION PATHWAYS.
Downstream processing
(conversion)
MOLECULES
OF INTEREST

Amyris, Futurol(2)

BIOETHANOL
FERMENTATION USING
GENETICALLY MODIFIED
MICROORGANISMS

ISOBUTANOL

Gevo

ADDITIVES
GASOLINE

FARNESENE

BIO-JET FUEL

Amyris

LACTIC ACID

BIODIESEL

Futerro(3)
LUBRICANTS

OILS

GROWING ALGAE IN BIOREACTORS - AlgaePARC

PLASTICS

AMYRIS AND ITS CUTTING-EDGE

BIOTECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Created in 2003, Amyris has developed an innovative technology toconvert
sugar to building block molecules for fuels and chemicals. Active across
the biotech value chain, Amyris has both research laboratories and a
production plant.
Since June 2010, Total has been the California companys lead industrial
shareholder, with an approximately 18% equity share at year-end 2013.
Teams from Total and Amyris are working onjoint research programs whose
primary aim is to develop and market new molecules to produce biofuels
and feedstock for green chemicals.

AMYRIS LABORATORY, EMERYVILLE,

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES.

cost-effectively convert sugar to various molecules of

interest.

myris technology is based on using sugar

from starch or sugar plants, such as the
sugar cane produced in Brazil. Eventually
it will be able to convert sugar extracted from the
non-food parts of plants, or lignocellulose, using
fermentation techniques (see page 8)
Specifically, Amyris has a cutting-edge synthetic
biology platform that can engineer and screen faster
microorganisms such as yeast strains that are able to

Amyris has research laboratories and a pilot unit in

California and a demonstration facility and production
plant in Brazil. Commercial-scale production of its
flagship molecule, farnesene (see page 6), began at
the Brotas plant in Brazil in early 2013.

AMYRIS EXPERTISE: SCREENING AND ENGINEERING

AYEAST STRAIN USING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
1

DNA Analysis

Identify the best biological pathway

to produce the target molecule.

Molecular Biology

Engineer a large number

of strains using
this biological pathway.

Screening

Test the most efficient

strains for producing
the target molecule.

Researchers seek to obtain a stable microorganism (such as a yeast strain or bacteria) that
can produce the molecule of interest for chemical applications. To do that, they must fully
identify the cellular metabolic pathways to be able to reprogram the microorganism, to optimize
production of the target molecule, as illustrated in the diagram above.

FROM FARNESENE TOFARNESANE

Farnesene, Amyris agship molecule, has a very broad range of applications, from cosmetics to
biofuels. Farnesene molecules can be hydrogenated into farnesane, which can be directly blended
into diesel or aviation fuels and does not require technical modi cations to engines.
Farnesane has properties that are superior to the fatty acid methyl esters that currently account for
most of the biodiesel market, specifi cally better cold resistance and the ability to be blended in higher
proportions into conventional diesel.

BUS OPERATED BY THE SAO PAULO, BRAZIL TRANSIT

AUTHORITY, RUNNING ON AMYRIS BIODIESEL.

Biodiesel
The biodiesel fuels on the market today consist primarily of vegetable-oil fatty acid methyl esters, which
have different properties than conventional diesel,
limiting them to 7% of the final fuels energy. Our goal
is to market biodiesel with higher biofuel content than
current blends.

In Brazil, Amyris has initiated tests on the largescale use of farnesane; its marketing affiliate has
been supplying the Sao Paulo transit authority
with biofuel containing 10% farnesane since
September 2011.

THE TOTAL-AMYRIS TEAM RACES

ONBIODIESEL
At the Monte Carlo New Energies Rally (RAMCEN) in March 2012,
Total and Amyris proved the mettle of their 45%-farnesane blend,
made by converting sugar cane, for the first time under real racing
conditions, on an open road with a series-produced car.

Around

6%

10%

(compared to 2% today)
Percentage of biofuel in the energy used
fortransportation worldwide in 2035 (1)

The target percentage of renewables,

mainlybiofuel, in transportation fuel in 2020,
setbyEuropean Union Directive 2009/28/EC.
Thecurrent percentage in Europe is 4.5%(2).

(1) IEA, World Energy Outlook 2012.

(2) Source: EurObservER, 2011.

NEW AMYRIS SUGAR CANE FERMENTATION

PLANT IN BROTAS, BRAZIL.

Renewable aviation fuel

With sales of more than 10 million tons in 2011, Total
is one of the worlds biggest suppliers of aviation fuel,
or jet fuel. We are looking for solutions to meet
airlines growing demand while curtailing carbon
emissions. The air transportation sector has set a
goal of halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
(2005 baseline).

farnesane which meets the stringent requirements

set for standard Jet A/A-1 fuel. Since June 2014,
this renewable jet fuel meets newly updated ASTM
Standard, the American Society for Testing and
Materials, guarantying its full compatibility with
aircraft and engine components and systems, and
is now ready for use in commercial aviation.

Total and Amyris have specifically developed a

break through jet fuel blend with up to 10%

The farnesane blend could lead to a meaningful

reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT USING

BIO-JET FUEL
During the Paris Airshow 2013, Total and Amyris supplied
renewable jet fuel, composed of 10% farnesane, for the first
demonstration flight in Europe. The Airbus A321 made a successful flight between Toulouse and Paris proudly sponsored
by the Joining our Energies - Biofuel Initiative France
involving Airbus, Air France, Safran and Total.

BIOCHEMICAL PATHWAY:
HARNESSING THE ENERGY OFSUGAR
The biochemical pathway uses microorganisms (yeast or bacteria) toferment
biomass and convert it to a variety of molecules usable for fuel and chemical
production. One of the research goals is to develop microorganisms that are
genetically modified to produce new molecules, then optimize them to obtain
efficient, robust strains.

Gevo: Total has acquired an interest in the U.S. startup Gevo, which is developing a process to convert
sugar to isobutanol, for use in fuels or petrochemical
production. The first commercial plant started up in
Luverne, Minnesota in May 2012.

n addition to our research with Amyris, we are

exploring other biochemical pathways, in particular
to convert the non-food part of the plant (lignocellulose) into sugar. Our biotech R&D teams are working
in partnership with European and American laboratories and start-ups.
Total is also interested in microorganisms that can
convert gas containing carbon monoxide like that
produced by the metalworking industry, refineries or
gasification of agricultural waste, municipal solid
waste or coal into molecules of interest to the
chemical industry.

Futerro: Created in 2007 by Belgiums Galactic and

Toulouse White Biotechnology (TWB): Total

is an industry partner of the TWB project launched by
the French National Institute for Agricultural Research
(INRA) in early 2011. It aims to develop new sustainable
pathways to produce chemicals, biofuels and biomaterials, using enzyme biocatalysis or the microorganism fermentation of renewable resources.

Total, Futerro is a 50-50 joint venture that can produce

bioplastics from lactic acid. Futerro has the capability
to manufacture a complete line of products for
the packaging market, especially food packaging,
that also have applications in such areas as textile
fibers and cell phone casings.

EXTRACTING
LIGNOCELLULOSIC
SUGARS FROM
THEPLANT

Crop

Plant cells

Main wall of plant cells

Sugar molecules

Hemicellulose
Cellulose
Lignin

Sourcing feedstock is a major challenge for biochemical biomass conversion processes. To promote sustainability, Total is actively researching the use of lignocellulose, the non-edible part of plants. Lignin,
an extremely hard-to-break-down molecule, is a fibrous component that helps give plants their structure.
Expensive, energy-intensive processes are required to break it and allow hydrolysis of the cellulose and
hemicellulose to release sugars, such as glucose and xylose. Once extracted, the sugars can be fermented
into farnesene-type molecules (see Amyris, page 6) or bioethanol.

Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI): Total is a

Futurol: Total sits on Futurols Scientific Committee

and provides industrial exper tise in blending
bio-components into existing fuels. Futurol aims to
produce bioethanol from lignocellulose by 2016.
An industrial pilot was launched near Reims, France
in 2011.

major strategic par tner of the Joint BioEnergy

Institute led by Dr. Jay Keasling. This cutting-edge
synthetic biology research center was created by
the U.S. Department of Energy to advance R&D
to enable the wide-scale use of lignocellulosic biomass as biofuels.
Total and the JBEI are collaborating on three major
research programs: converting biomass, developing
new synthetic pathways to produce molecules for
our chemicals business and increasing the tolerance
of microorganisms for the molecules produced.

PHOTOTROPHIC PATHWAY:
FROM MICROALGAE
TOMOLECULES OF INTEREST

Total is working to leverage these advantages in an

exploratory research program to select the most efficient species, optimize their biology through genetic
engineering and fine-tune commercial scale-up processes by studying molecule treatment and extraction
methods and related environmental impacts. A host
of potential applications could ultimately involve all of
our business lines, including biofuels, lubricants and
molecules for chemicals. We are partners in various
research projects to assess the long-term feasibility
of microalgae technologies.

hototrophs like microalgae are microorganisms

that can produce molecules of interest for fuels
and chemical manufacturing directly, by
means of photosynthesis, which uses sunlight as a
source of energy and carbon dioxide as a source of
carbon. Microalgae could be grown on non-arable
land to avoid interfering with food crops. Per-acre
yields for microalgae could be much higher than with
the land-based plants currently used to produce
biodiesel.

10

BUSY MICROALGAE FACTORIES,

PRODUCING LIPIDS THAT
CANBECONVERTED DIRECTLY
TOFUELS OR LUBRICANTS

Carbon dioxide
CO2 fixing

Oxygen

O2

Photons

BIO-JET FUEL
BIODIESEL
OILS

Photosynthesis
Water
(H2O)

LIPIDS

RS
GA

PR

OT

SU

EIN
S

LUBRICANTS

Nutrients
(inorganic salts: iron, nitrogen, phosphate, etc.)
AMICROALGAE CELL

Using microalgae to produce biofuels may turn out to be a promising

pathway. Further research and development are needed before it will be
feasible to use microalgae technologies for the large-scale, cost-effective,
energy-ef f icient production of molecules useful in making fuels and
chemicals.

AlgaePARC

CEA and CNRS partnership

Total is collaborating with Wageningen University in the

Netherlands on the Algae Production And Research
Centre (AlgaePARC) project. AlgaePARC aims to
design, by 2015, a reactor model and a cultivation
process whose performance is more sustainable from
a technical, financial and energy efficiency standpoint
than conventional processes, while expanding our
knowledge base in preparation for the technologys
commercial scale-up.

R&D teams from Total and CEA have developed a

joint research program on the optimization of photosynthetic organisms (microalgae). The objectives are
to enhance their properties and raise their efficiency
to lower production costs, too high today to address
the commodity markets.
Research, involving researchers from CEA, CNRS and
TOTAL are conducted at the Laboratory of Cellular
Physiology & Plant (LPCV) a unit of the Research
Institute of Science and Technology (iRTSV) at CEA
Grenoble, France.

QIBEBT
Total launched a research program with Chinas
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess to
screen and identify enzymes that can be efficiently
used to produce biofuels and feedstock for green
chemicals.

11

12

GLOSSARY
Biofuel: A liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced from biomass
(European Union Directive 2009/28/EC).
Biochemical conversion: Conversion of energy sources (usually
biomass) through biological transformation (reactions in living organisms).
Examples include fermentation (in the presence of enzymes).
Biodiesel: A biofuel used in diesel engines andproduced by the
conversion of vegetable oils, sugars orsynthetic gas.
Bioethanol: A biofuel miscible in gasoline produced by fermenting or
distilling sugars from biomass (sugar plants or lignocellulose).
Bio-jet fuel or biokerosene: Abiofuel for aviation use.
Biomass: Biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues of
biological origin from agriculture (including plant and animal substances),
forestry and related industries, including fisheries and aquaculture which,
through chemical transformation, can become beneficial molecules
(carbon molecules) for the production of fuels and specialty chemicals
(European Union Directive 2009/28/EC).
Biotechnology: The application of science and technology to living
organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living
or non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods and
services (OECD2005).
Distillation: The process of separating a liquid mixture through
vaporization. Substances vaporize at different boiling points, allowing
them to be collected separately.
Fermentation: A biochemical reaction that converts the chemical energy
in a carbon source (often sugar) to another form of energy (alcohol)
through interaction with yeast or bacteria.
Hydrolysis: The breakdown of a substance by splitting water molecules
into hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions.
Lignocellulose: Lignocellulose makes up the wall of plant cells. Inthe
biofuel sector, this term is used to designate wood and straw,
tworesources that can be used for biofuel production. Lignocellulose
can be gasified (thermochemical conversion) or split into its basic
components (sugars from cellulose and lignin) in order to transform them
through biochemical conversion.
Photosynthesis: The chlorophyll found in plants is capable of capturing
light energy. The captured energy is used to make sugar molecules from
water taken from the soil and carbon dioxide found in the air. The sugars
produced are then distributed through the plant and the oxygen is
released into the air.
Phototrophic organisms: Living organisms such as plants and
microalgae that make their organic matter by drawing energy from light
via photosynthesis.

13

New Energies
Total Marketing Services
Headquarters:
24 cours Michelet
92069 Paris La Dfense cedex - France
Phone: +33 (0)1 41 35 40 00
Share capital: 318 822 302 euros
542 034 921 RCS Nanterre
www.total.com

Design and Production: Studios Menthe&Chocolat. Photo Credits: Total Photo Library. E. Maillard, M. Roussel, F. Laeuffer, Stephan
Gladieu, Marco Dufour All rights reserved to Fetranspor, A. Guillaumot/DPPI Media, Amyris, Inc. All Right Reserved, AIRBUS S.A.S. - photo
by exm company / P. MASCLET All rights reserved to AZUL Linhas Areas, iStockphoto, Getty Images (N. Rowe, Imagebroker RF, LWA), X,
All rights reserved. Graphics: StudioV2. Printed on Satimat Green, a paper manufactured from 60% recycled fi bers and 40% FSC-certifi ed virgin
fi bers. Printed in France. September 2014.

See you at

www.total.com