UK's first cellulosic ethanol plant completes first year of operation
January 1, 1970
Posted September 22, 2009, at 12:20 p.m. CST
TMO Renewables Ltd., a developer of a new process for converting biomass into fuel ethanol, announced that it has successfully completed the first year of operation of its process demonstration unit (PDU), the first cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in the U.K. TMO celebrated this milestone at an official ceremony Sept. 15 at the PDU, which was attended by Gregory Barker MP, the U.K. Shadow Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, members of the press and other guests.
TMO's ‘second generation' process uses common bacteria, developed from a strain found in compost heaps, to produce ethanol from cellulosic (or woody) biomass materials. The PDU has proved the company's unique pretreatment and fermentation technology to be commercially viable beyond the laboratory, as a fully integrated stage within a continuous ethanol production process. Since its completion in the summer of 2008 TMO's plant, located at Dunsfold Park, near Guildford in Surrey, has been running successfully for 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks on an industrial scale. These feedstocks – including grasses, wheat straw, newspaper, municipal waste and distillers' grains (a byproduct of the traditional corn ethanol process) – have all been converted by TMO into a "beer" for distillation into fuel ethanol.
TMO has been operating the plant with the aim of refining the company's patented cellulosic ethanol process and tailoring the process to feedstock samples provided by its development partners, including major U.S. biofuel companies. With the PDU now running reliably and consistently for more than a year, TMO will be using the data and experience gained to ramp up its commercial activities, especially in the U.S., its key initial market. In particular, the PDU has shown that TMO's process is ideal for retro-fit to existing corn ethanol plants, typically improving their yields by up to 15 percent, as well as being suited for new-build ethanol applications.
The PDU is staffed by a dedicated team of 12 full-time engineers and incorporates 5 kilometers (km) of pipe work, 50 km of cable, 2000 valves and an automated process control system which monitors some 5,000 separate parameters in the plant. As a direct result of the PDU's construction and operation TMO has created 15 jobs in the immediate local area in addition to 30 in their laboratory at the Surrey Research Park in Guildford.
Hamish Curran, chief executive of TMO, commented: "Our highly successful cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant has proven conclusively TMO's unique ‘second generation' ethanol technology to our development partners and broader target customers. After more than 9,500 hours of operation, we are confident that TMO's process is suitable both for new-build cellulosic ethanol facilities, and as bolt-on to improve dramatically the performance and economics of existing corn ethanol plants. Fueled by our recent £11 million ($18 million) funding round, we are now embarking on full commercial roll-out of our process, with U.S. retrofit applications as our target launch market, where we believe we can increase pant yields by, typically, 15 percent, with corresponding margin uplifts of up to 50 percent."
"We are encouraged by the strong prospects in the biofuels sector, particularly in the U.S., where passing of the Energy Independence & Security Act and also the Farm Bill, as well as the election of Barack Obama, have combined to give the sustainable energy sector a significant boost. We are confident that our technology know-how, strong cash position, and regulatory support will help bring TMO's process to market rapidly and effectively."
Gregory Barker, Shadow Climate Change Minister added: "I am delighted to have this opportunity to mark a significant U.K. success story, just part of the vast mosaic of environmental solutions coming out of the visionary private sector. Transformational companies like TMO Renewables, who are pioneering a new generation of biofuels, have the potential not only to help end reliance on high-carbon fuels but also to solve the dichotomy posed by the biofuel versus food debate. Furthermore it is especially fitting, as we remember the anniversary of the Lehman collapse, to be talking with representatives of London's leading cleantech finance community and celebrating TMO's recent £11 million fundraising."
SOURCE: TMO RENEWABLES LIMITED
TMO Renewables Ltd., a developer of a new process for converting biomass into fuel ethanol, announced that it has successfully completed the first year of operation of its process demonstration unit (PDU), the first cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in the U.K. TMO celebrated this milestone at an official ceremony Sept. 15 at the PDU, which was attended by Gregory Barker MP, the U.K. Shadow Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, members of the press and other guests.
TMO's ‘second generation' process uses common bacteria, developed from a strain found in compost heaps, to produce ethanol from cellulosic (or woody) biomass materials. The PDU has proved the company's unique pretreatment and fermentation technology to be commercially viable beyond the laboratory, as a fully integrated stage within a continuous ethanol production process. Since its completion in the summer of 2008 TMO's plant, located at Dunsfold Park, near Guildford in Surrey, has been running successfully for 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks on an industrial scale. These feedstocks – including grasses, wheat straw, newspaper, municipal waste and distillers' grains (a byproduct of the traditional corn ethanol process) – have all been converted by TMO into a "beer" for distillation into fuel ethanol.
TMO has been operating the plant with the aim of refining the company's patented cellulosic ethanol process and tailoring the process to feedstock samples provided by its development partners, including major U.S. biofuel companies. With the PDU now running reliably and consistently for more than a year, TMO will be using the data and experience gained to ramp up its commercial activities, especially in the U.S., its key initial market. In particular, the PDU has shown that TMO's process is ideal for retro-fit to existing corn ethanol plants, typically improving their yields by up to 15 percent, as well as being suited for new-build ethanol applications.
The PDU is staffed by a dedicated team of 12 full-time engineers and incorporates 5 kilometers (km) of pipe work, 50 km of cable, 2000 valves and an automated process control system which monitors some 5,000 separate parameters in the plant. As a direct result of the PDU's construction and operation TMO has created 15 jobs in the immediate local area in addition to 30 in their laboratory at the Surrey Research Park in Guildford.
Hamish Curran, chief executive of TMO, commented: "Our highly successful cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant has proven conclusively TMO's unique ‘second generation' ethanol technology to our development partners and broader target customers. After more than 9,500 hours of operation, we are confident that TMO's process is suitable both for new-build cellulosic ethanol facilities, and as bolt-on to improve dramatically the performance and economics of existing corn ethanol plants. Fueled by our recent £11 million ($18 million) funding round, we are now embarking on full commercial roll-out of our process, with U.S. retrofit applications as our target launch market, where we believe we can increase pant yields by, typically, 15 percent, with corresponding margin uplifts of up to 50 percent."
"We are encouraged by the strong prospects in the biofuels sector, particularly in the U.S., where passing of the Energy Independence & Security Act and also the Farm Bill, as well as the election of Barack Obama, have combined to give the sustainable energy sector a significant boost. We are confident that our technology know-how, strong cash position, and regulatory support will help bring TMO's process to market rapidly and effectively."
Gregory Barker, Shadow Climate Change Minister added: "I am delighted to have this opportunity to mark a significant U.K. success story, just part of the vast mosaic of environmental solutions coming out of the visionary private sector. Transformational companies like TMO Renewables, who are pioneering a new generation of biofuels, have the potential not only to help end reliance on high-carbon fuels but also to solve the dichotomy posed by the biofuel versus food debate. Furthermore it is especially fitting, as we remember the anniversary of the Lehman collapse, to be talking with representatives of London's leading cleantech finance community and celebrating TMO's recent £11 million fundraising."
SOURCE: TMO RENEWABLES LIMITED
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