By Martin LaMonica
(CNET, April 19, 2010) Biofuel company Amyris Biotechnologies said it plans to raise $100 million through an initial public offering, one of a number of energy start-ups now seeking to tap the stock market for capital. The Emeryville, Calif., company on Friday filed its S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in which it laid out its plans to tap sugar cane from Brazil, now used for producing ethanol, to make different chemical products, including diesel fuel. A source for diesel or jet fuel–Brazilian sugar cane. (Credit: Amyris Biotechnologies) The S-1 also spelled out the many risks that the Amyris faces, including the high costs of building biorefineries and the potential backlash against using genetically modified organisms to make its products. Amyris manipulates micro-organisms, primarily yeasts, so that they consume sugar and produce a desired product, which could be diesel, jet fuel, or other chemical products. The company founders had originally received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use its process for an antimalaria drug. Then, funded by venture capital companies including Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, they set out to also make liquid fuels using the same basic process. Click here to read more…