Clariant, Anhui Guozhen Group, and Chemtex Chemical Engineering Ink Deal for 30 Million Gallon Cellulosic Ethanol Project in China

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From Germany we have news that Clariant, Anhui Guozhen Group, and Chemtex Chemical Engineering signed a license agreement on sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology. This is the third commercial license for the sunliquid technology and the first for China.

The Anhui Guozhen Group and Chemtex have agreed to form a joint venture with the aim of realizing a full-scale commercial plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues. In this framework, Clariant has granted a license for its sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology to the joint venture.

The annual plant production capacity is planned to be 50.000 tons of cellulosic ethanol, with an option to double the capacity in a second phase (50.000 tons in each phase), making it one of the largest in China so far.

By locally sourced feedstock, in that case wheat straw and corn stover, greenhouse gas savings can be maximized and additional business opportunities along the entire value and supply chain will arise.

The produced cellulosic ethanol will be utilized in the Chinese regional fuels market as blend into gasoline to fulfill the national blending mandate. Cellulosic ethanol produced with sunliquid saves around 95% of greenhouse gases compared to gasoline.

The Bottom Line

China has been home to a lot of R&D around cellulosic biofuels, but nothing this advanced in terms of technology maturity — and a 30 million gallon project (counting both phases) is of world-class scale. What’s happened? Two things, really. One, countries are waking up that there’s no meeting Paris Agreement emissions targets without tackling road transport, and now, and that means internal combustion engines, and cellulosic ethanol is the fastest route if the technology is a fit. Second, this technology has come a long ways, baby, as they used to say around the Virginia Slims tennis circuit.

The big question will be around the actual sources and methods of cellulosic waste collection. We’ll stand by to report more.

We don’t see this as the final chapter in a long story, but as the first chapter in a story with a long title page. More to come in China and India, those are the hot spots right now, though watch out Brazil. READ MORE