Agricultural waste turned into bio-ethanol
December 17, 2013 Category Alternative energy, Environment
Commercial manufacturing of cellulosic bio-ethanol from agricultural residue is expected to be given further impetus after commercial production begins in China next year, experts say. Chemicals firm Chemtex Engineering Co said work on a new plant that uses second-generation production technologies will start soon in Fuyang, Anhui province. The company will produce two kinds of biofuel: fuel ethanol and mono-ethylene glycol. The company, a part of Mossi Ghisolfi Group of Italy, is a pioneer in second-generation technologies and has a cellulosic bio-ethanol plant in Italy. “We plan to invest USD500 million in China for the conversion of 1 million metric tons of biomass into bio-ethanol and bio-glycols,” said Sean Ma, President and Chief Executive of Chemtex China. Bio-ethanol can be added to petrol to boost fuel quality and reduce carbon emissions. Cellulosic biofuels are normally made from biomass such as wood waste, sugarcane and bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane or sorghum production. They are regarded as sustainable options to corn-based ethanol and petroleum-based diesel. Beta Renewables, a joint venture between the Mossi Ghisolfi Group of Italy and biochemical company Novozymes of Denmark, which set up the first cellulosic bio-ethanol plant in Italy last year, has already indicated that it expects output to rise significantly in the long run. There are two kinds of technology for making bio-ethanol, the first generation involving crop cultivation, which is widely used in China, and the second generation that uses agricultural residue, Ma said. China has seven big bio-ethanol facilities, and four of them, including Jilin Ethanol Co and Henan Tianguan, use first generation technology or grains as feedstock, says Michael Christiansen, President of Novozymes China. Two factories use the 1.5-generation technology or cassava and sweet sorghum for fuel output, while only one factory, Shandong Longlive, uses corn-cob residue or second-generation technology. A production of 4 million tons of bio-ethanol is envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15) by 2015. Although only 3% of China’s petrol consumption has been replaced by ethanol fuels, the country is the third largest adaptor of ethanol in the world after the U.S. and Brazil.
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