International cellulose agreements advance economic, technical viability

September 1, 2006

Significant international news and partnership arrangements were recently made in the licensing of process and equipment technologies—and the furthering of enzymatic and yeast research—for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol.

SunOpta BioProcess Group, a division of Toronto, Ontario-based SunOpta Inc., cemented deals with a state-owned ethanol production company in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and a well-established ethanol firm in Europe, confirmed SunOpta BioProcess Group's Vice President Murray Burke. China Resources Alcohol Corp. signed a contract to purchase a cellulosic ethanol pilot production facility from SunOpta, which will incorporate the successful Canadian company's steam-explosion pretreatment and conversion process technologies, in addition to equipment necessary in carrying out the applicable processes.

The large, PRC-run ethanol producer has in its possession an operating corn-to-ethanol refinery and idle factory where xylitol was once produced from corn cobs. Xylitol is a sugar substitute made from xylose, a pentose (C5) sugar more difficult to ferment than hexoses (e.g., glucose). The existing on-site infrastructure, which Burke said is in Harbin near the PRC's northern border with Siberia, was originally established for batch xylitol production, but this will be modified to accommodate continuous cellulosic ethanol production.

"By using the existing infrastructure, the PRC and China Alcohol Resources have driven the capital costs down, allowing them to get into the business of [cellulosic ethanol] production relatively quickly," Burke told EPM.

China Resources Alcohol could begin receiving equipment by the end September to begin integration of this pilot facility with the currently defunct xylitol plant. Burke anticipates the sale of the second system, a commercial demonstration facility capable of producing 1.7 MMgy, to occur sometime in 2007. These systems will demonstrate the conversion of corn stover to ethanol. China Resources Alcohol anticipates having the capacity to produce 330 MMgy from cellulose by 2012, Burke said.

In addition, Novozymes inked a three-year research cooperation agreement with China Resources Alcohol to further develop biomass conversion capabilities in the PRC. Novozymes and China Resources Alcohol will likely incorporate SunOpta into this agreement soon.

European company, Royal Nedalco, a more than 100-year-old ethanol producer based in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, entered into a joint development agreement with SunOpta. SunOpta will help integrate its design and process technologies with Royal Nedalco's new starch-based project on the drawing board in Rotterdam, Netherlands. On the other hand, Royal Nedalco will license its novel yeast for SunOpta's use. The yeast, a hybrid developed in partnership with Delft University of Technology in Netherlands, is capable of effectively fermenting both C5 and hexose (C6) sugars, and it is robust, Burke told EPM. "We've seen high conversion rates with this yeast already," he said, adding that the yeast not only works effectively, but also rapidly. According to Burke, SunOpta anticipates supplying the European company's new grain-fed ethanol production facility with its systems by the end of 2007. SunOpta intends to swiftly move forward with applying its new license of the patented novel yeast in the United States.

In related developments, Orange County, Calif., may be home to a commercial cellulosic ethanol production facility by 2009. Japanese firm JGC Corp. and BlueFire Ethanol Inc., a now-publicly traded company that was formed specifically to deploy Arkenol Inc.'s concentrated acid hydrolysis technology for biomass conversion, have penned agreements to design and build an 8 MMgy commercial ethanol plant using wood and agricultural waste. According to JGC Corp., completion of the design package is expected during the third quarter of this year, followed by the start of engineering and construction in early 2007. Commercial start-up is slated for first quarter 2009. These companies have demonstrated success in teamwork using this technology in similar pilot-scale applications in Japan.

-Staff Report

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