Novozymes enters development cooperation on cellulosic ethanol in China

At the end of this week, industrial enzyme producer Novozymes expects to sign a research agreement with state-owned China Resources Alcohol Corporation (CRAC) on the development of cellulosic biofuels in the People's Republic.

CRAC operates China's only pilot plant for the production of cellulose-ethanol, located in Zhaodong in Heilongjiang province, which already hosts a full-scale first-generation ethanol plant supplying the local biofuel market. The technology for the demonstration plant was provided by the SunOpta BioProcess Group. CRAC's plant is the first facility in the world to produce ethanol from cellulosic biomass (local corn stover, stalks and leaves) on a continuous 24-hour basis.

Novozymes will now help develop and improve the necessary cellulase enzymes for the bioconversion process that is still in an experimental phase (schematic, click to enlarge). During the three-year development phase Novozymes and CRAC will form a joint research team, which will work at the pilot factory in Zhaodong. At a later stage other partners may be brought in to add additional competences to the project.

With our knowledge of enzyme technology we can help CRAC to develop commercially viable processes for producing second-generation biofuel. At the same time, the project is important because the whole of this industry is still in its infancy. A project as comprehensive as this one will have good prospects of leading to new technologies within the whole area, which is engaged in converting cellulose-based biomass. I am sure that the cooperation between two such important players will lead to fruitful experiences within these critical production processes. And for Novozymes the cooperation will take us a good deal further in our general ‘biomass-to-ethanol’ research. - Humphrey Lau, Marketing Director at Novozymes.

Over the long term Novozymes expects China to become an important biofuel market. The consumption of fuels for transport has increased significantly in recent years in line with the rapidly growing number of cars (earlier post). This has meant intense focus on sustainable energy, especially biofuels, by the policy makers of the People's Republic (more on the PRC's national bioenergy and biofuel strategy).

Novozymes envisages that the production of ethanol based on food grains – so-called first-generation biofuels – will not grow as strongly in China in the coming years because the country is a net importer of these feedstocks. Moreover, China is considering to phase-out the production of biofuels from such sources and intends to focus on non-food crops such as sweet sorghum, cassava, sweet potatos and jatropha instead (earlier post). The production of second-generation biofuels based on agricultural residues and dedicated energy crops will supplement this development path:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: cellulose :: biomass :: China ::

CRAC is an important player in China's alcohol market and possesses important technologies for the production of biofuels. It is a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuff Corporation (COFCO), which is one of the largest companies in the country and is involved in several different industries.

COFCO is a leading manufacturer of both biodiesel and ethanol and has already begun utilizing non-food crops such as cassava (previous post). The company currently has stakes in three existing ethanol plants and is building another four of its own, located in the autonomous regions of Inner Mogolia and Guangxi Zhuang, and in the provinces of Hebei and Shandong.

COFCO hopes to acquire a 70 percent share of the Chinese ethanol market within three years.

References:
Novozymes has a dedicated website on its involvement in biofuels, here.

The following are presentations of the company's R&D progress into cellulosic ethanol:

Advancing cellulosic ethanol [*.pdf], Presentation at World Biofuels Markets 2007, Brussels - March 6, 2007

The next generation of fuel ethanol - March 15, 2007