Noted: At least one major oil company has dabbled in the field. In 2008, Royal Dutch Shell invested an undisclosed amount in Virent Energy Systems, a company based in Madison, Wisconsin. The collaboration aims to improve Virentâ??s processes to take sugars generated from cellulosic waste and catalytically react them with water to produce fuel molecules. “Itâ??s a premium high-octane [petrol] weâ??re generating,” says Randy Cortright, the companyâ??s founder and chief technical officer, who co-invented the technology with chemical engineer James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Office of Strategic Communication