Italy is to be home to the world’s first commercial-scale facility for turning cellulose plant waste into ethanol, in a move that will start defuse criticisms that the European Union’s rush to promote alternatives to fossil fuels for road transport has led crops grown for human and animal consumption to be diverted into biofuel production.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place this week for a 50 million litre production facility in Crescentino in northwestern Italy. The facility, being built by the chemicals company Mossi & Ghisolfi Group (M&G), will be 10 times larger than the largest demonstrators in operation today.
Along with wheat straw, it is designed to operate with other types of cellulose feedstock, including corn stalks and other parts of crop plants that are usually discarded, along with biomass plants grown especially for the purpose. The facility is scheduled to start production in 2012.
“Laying the foundation for the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant here in Crescentino is an important milestone for us and at the same time a new beginning,” said Vittorio Ghisolfi, President of the M&G Group. “This plant proves cellulosic bioethanol can be produced in a manner that is sustainable for the environment and for the industry. But research is not stopping here. We are assessing bio-based substitutes for a range of other petrochemical products and chemical intermediates.”
To turn plant cellulose into ethanol it is first broken down into a pulp. Enzymes are then added to turn the cellulose in the biomass into sugar, which is then fermented into ethanol. The process to be used at the plant has been developed in collaboration with Denmark’s Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes.
The groundbreaking signals the dawn of a new green era, says Poul Ruben Andersen, Marketing Director, Bioenergy at Novozymes. “With this state-of-the-art facility, M&G proves there is a cure for the world’s addiction to fossil fuels. Biofuel made from lignocellulosic biomass is no longer a distant pipe-dream. The technology is ready and plants will be built and run on commercial scale, offering a compelling alternative to conventional gasoline.”
The M&G’s plant will be self-sufficient in power, with lignin, a co-product extracted from biomass during the ethanol production process, being burned in an attached power plant that will also feed excess electricity into the grid.
More information, photos, and videos: www.biocrescentino.it
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