Etanol.nu

Novozymes to halve bioethanol enzyme price

* Says can halve bioethanol enzyme price to 50 cts/gln fuel

* Sees bioethanol production price at $2.50/gln next year

* Sees U.S. missing 100 mln gln cellulosic target in 2010

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By Gelu Sulugiuc COPENHAGEN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Denmark's Novozymes A/S (NZYMb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) will halve the price of enzymes used in the production of second-generation ethanol to 50 cents per gallon of fuel by next year, company officials said on Tuesday.

This will help cut the production price of the fuel, which is made from crop waste, fast-growing grasses and wood chips, to $2.50 per gallon from $3.50 per gallon now, said Poul Ruben Andersen, marketing director for biofuel at Novozymes.

"The other 50 cents will come from innovation and efficiency in the overall process of pre-treatment and ethanol fermentation," Andersen said.

The environmentally friendlier version of the biofuel avoids the blame for food price inflation attached to ethanol made from corn. But it is harder to make as it requires breaking down tough cells walls into sugars which can be fermented into fuel.

NOVOZYMES: PRICE OF 2G BIOETHANOL COMPETITIVE WITH GASOLINE

(2010.01.15)

Bioethanol produced from agricultural waste can now be produced at a price that makes it competitive with gasoline

Bioethanol produced from agricultural waste can now be produced at a price that makes it competitive with gasoline, reports national daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The world's largest manufacturer of bioethanol, US group Poet, which is collaborating with Denmark's Novozymes, has reduced production costs of bioethanol to USD 2.35 per gallon and expects to further reduce the costs over the next 12 months, bringing the price down to less than USD 2 per gallon. Production costs of gasoline are currently around USD 2.18 per gallon.

Peder Holk Nielsen, executive vice president of Novozymes, a world- leading producer of industrial enzymes, says: "Poet bases its production on corncobs (agrowaste from maize production – Ed), and the potential is large. It is possible to produce 5 billion gallons (19 billion litres) of bioethanol in the US solely based on corncobs."

Novozymes supplies the enzymes that are used for breaking down the feedstock. The price of the enzymes is steadily falling, which is one of the reasons why bioethanol made from agricultural waste – otherwise known as second generation or 2G bioethanol – can now be produced at a competitive price.

"It is also possible to make bioethanol from agricultural waste at the equivalent of USD 2 per gallon in Denmark. We just need to use straw from wheat as the feedstock. But it is essential for increased production of bioethanol in Demark that the government subsidy for burning straw also will apply to using straw for the production of bioethanol", says Peder Holk Nielsen.

Novozymes is currently concentrating its efforts on export markets, where developments in the US are particularly promising. The company has just announced that it will receive an Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit of USD 28.4m from the Obama Administration for the construction of its new enzyme manufacturing facility in Blair, Nebraska. The facility, which will produce enzymes for making advanced biofuels, will create more than 100 jobs. It is planned to be fully operational in mid-2012.

Enzymer gör etanol av cellulosa

Danska företaget Novozymes lanserar nu de första kommersiella enzymerna som kan bryta ned cellulosa till en kostnad av mindre än två dollar per gallon, ungefär tre kronor litern.

Det är de första kommersiella enzymerna för produktion av biobränsle från jordbruksavfall, enligt företaget. Enligt Novozymes gör deras Cellic CT2Tec2-enzymer att biobränsleindustrin kan producera cellulosaetanol till en kostnad av mindre än två US-dollar per gallon (en gallon är 4,5 liter). Det är ungefär samma kostnad som för konventionell etanol eller bensin enligt marknadspris i USA.

– Vi har arbetat med detta de senaste tio åren och har lovat våra kunder och marknaden att det ska vara klart 2010, säger Steen Riisgaard, Novozymes vd, i ett pressmeddelande.

– Jag är mycket nöjd med att kunna meddela att nu är vi klara. Enzymerna är färdiga, säger han.

Framstegen när det gäller enzymutveckling har minskat kostnaden för själva enzymerna med över 80 procent de två senaste åren. Nu är den nere på ungefär 50 cent per gallon cellulosaetanol.

Novonzymes har satsat stora pengar i utvecklingsarbetet och har dessutom fått ta emot bidrag motsvarande drygt 200 miljoner svenska kronor från amerikanska energidepartementet.

Det danska företaget har samarbetat med företag som Poet, Greenfield Ethanol, Inbicon, Sinopec, bland andra, i processutveckling och användning av teknologin.

Enligt Sten Riisgaard väntas produktionskostnaderna för cellulosaetanolen falla under 2 dollar per gallon när de första fullskaleanläggningarna är i full gång och sedan ytterligare i framtiden.

Cellic bryter ned cellulosan till sockerarter som kan fermenteras till etanol och har visats fungera på en rad olika råvaror från majskolvar, halm, sockerrörsbagass och träflis.

Storskaliga anläggningar är under konstruktion och planeras köras igång under nästa år.