Development of a low-cost cellulase production process using Trichoderma reesei for Brazilian biorefineries

Table 1 Comparison of some of the key metrics of the enzyme production processes described in the techno-economic models of Humbird et al. [5] and Klein-Marcuschamer et al. [1], and the data from this study

	Humbird [5]	Klein-Marcuschamer [1]	This study^a
Carbon source	Glucose	Steam-exploded poplar	83% Soybean hulls, 17% sugarcane molasses
C-source price ($/t)	580	60^b	120
Enzyme yield from C-source (g/g)	0.24	0.13^c	0.21
Final titer (g/l)	50	46	30.6
Production time (h)	120	192	120
Productivity (g/l h)	0.42	0.24	0.26
Nutrient cost ($/kg enzyme)	2.63	2.84	~0.85
Total enzyme cost ($/kg)	4.24	10.14	N/D

^aConsidering the fermentation performed with VTT-BR-C0020 on a medium with a final concentration of 125 g/l soybean hulls and 25 g/l molasses TRS (Additional file 1: Figure S1)
^bCost assumed in the base scenario for native poplar, not including the cost of pre-treatment
^cYield from pre-treated poplar total solids

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