Coskata Inc., a start-up ethanol company that GM invested in in 2008, has been named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world by Technology Review, the journal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Technology Review this week published its first annual list of the 50 most innovative companies, spanning the fields of energy, computing, the Web, biomedicine, and materials, each company on the list was evaluated based on its business model, strategies for deploying and scaling up its technologies, and the likelihood of success. Each company excelled not only at inventing technology, but also at using it to transform how we live and work.
Coskata, a biology-based renewable energy company that is commercializing technology to produce biofuels from a wide variety of feedstocks and other sources was named as a Top Private Energy Company. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company will produce ethanol that can be cost competitive with gasoline unsubsidized almost anywhere in the world. Coskata earns this recognition alongside other companies such as Apple, Google, and Twitter.
GM announced its partnership with Coskata in early 2008 to use the company's breakthrough technology, which affordably and efficiently makes ethanol from practically any renewable source, including garbage, old tires and plant waste.
"We invested in Coskata so that we could enable the rapid deployment of commercially viable and environmentally sustainable ethanol globally," said Bob Babik, GM Vehicle Emissions director. "We have already accepted some of Coskata’s ethanol at our Milford Proving Grounds for testing."
Globally, GM has produced more than 5.5 million flex-fuel vehicles to date. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 4 million GM flex-fuel cars and trucks on the road. For the 2010 model year, there are 17 E85-capable flex-fuel vehicles from the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brands. GM is on track to make more than half of its vehicle production E85 flex-fuel capable by 2012.