Danish Firm Develops Enzyme to Boost Ethanol Output by 2.5 Percent
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) Novozymes said it has developed a new enzyme called Avantec that allows more ethanol to be produced from corn.
The Danish industrial enzymes maker said Avantec enables ethanol producers to squeeze an extra 2.5 percent more ethanol out of the corn they use to produce the renewable fuel. The result is that ethanol producers would need less corn to produce the same amount of fuel, thereby boosting their bottom line. Some facilities could experience little to no increase while other plants seeing a jump of as much as 4 percent depending on the several factors such as the temperature and feedstock quality being used.
… The company said an average ethanol plant used about 900,000 tons of feed-grade corn per year to produce 100 million gallons of fuel ethanol, 300,000 tons of animal feed (DDGS) and 8,500 tons of corn oil. With Avantec, the plant could save 22,500 tons of corn while maintaining the same ethanol output. Currently, most ethanol plants convert only 90 percent to 95 percent of the starch that is available — evidence Novozymes said shows there is progress to be made. READ MORE and MORE (Novozymes)
