Oct 26, 2021

Novozymes is introducing Innova Quantum, a new addition to its powerful Innova yeast platform. The robust new yeast enables ethanol plants with longer fermentation times of more than 60 hours to realize higher ethanol yields and processing efficiencies than ever before. And, most importantly, plants can achieve this industry-leading yield without trade-offs which put their operation at risk.

“Innova Quantum is the most advanced yeast available and sets a new industry benchmark for the highest yielding, most robust yeast to maximize producer yield and fermentation reliability,” says Rene Garza, Novozymes’ Vice President for Agricultural & Industrial Biosolutions, North America. “With its launch, we are redefining fermentation and operational performance, as new yeast strain and enzymatic developments unleash additional performance capabilities. Our primary goal is to help our customers protect their plant while enabling the highest level of conversion – and Innova does not require this trade-off.”

A boost for ethanol producers

Innova Quantum has significant robustness and works particularly well under differing processing conditions. This means that ethanol producers can maintain consistency in challenging conditions, maximize the fermentation process towards optimal starch conversion, and achieve the highest ethanol yields in the industry. 

Producers can increase ethanol yield by 2-3%  with the new yeast, which for a 100MGY plant translates to an additional $1-2 million in revenue. Designed to operate in fermentations >60 hours, Quantum with new strain development is capable of converting the most sugar to ethanol while significantly lowering fermentation by-products such as glycerol up to 40% – all without the trade-off and risk of robustness loss experienced with competing yeasts. And, Quantum expands plant flexibility fermenting to >16% w/v ethanol concentrations, while eliminating the need for expensive nutritional supplements. 

“Innova Quantum is a boost for ethanol producers that enables them to realize greater profitability without trade-offs that rob plants of reliability and consistency. Quantum delivers higher ethanol yields without risking robustness,” adds Garza. “They can pursue greater yields while safeguarding their plant, yields, and profit.”

A platform for growth and protection

Novozymes’ Innova platform is already the most robust yeast in the industry. Within three years of its emergence on the market, nearly half of North American ethanol is produced using Innova yeasts, indicating how the platform fulfils a significant market need for groundbreaking bioinnovation that makes a real, tangible difference for producers.

Based on customer needs and Novozymes’ commitment to a better tomorrow, the launches of Innova Quantum and Element fermentation solutions, the Fortiva Hemi liquefaction solution, and Fiberex F2.5 for fiber-to-low-carbon ethanol production, together deliver the industry’s most holistic, sustainable, and advanced approach to ethanol production.

“Innova Quantum is our latest way of providing producers with peace of mind to convert at the highest level, while reducing plant risk,” says Rene Garza. “We aim to make a significant contribution to the ethanol production industry and support producers as they grow and protect their plants.” 

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