BANGOR – Tethys Research LLC, a Bangor-based biotechnology company, said it has been awarded $749,728 from the Department of Energy under its Small Business Innovation Research Phase II program to further develop its new enzyme-based pretreatment for wood processing.

Tethys said it discovered and is developing novel enzymes to separate wood components during lignocellulosic processing.

“If successfully commercialized, the Tethys technology would enable more environmentally friendly wood processing, with higher yield per tree, and allow current pulping waste streams to be utilized efficiently by forest biorefineries for the production of chemicals and biofuels,” the company said.