Mascoma: Inside the SunOpta Acquisition

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In New Hampshire, Mascoma reported yesterday that it had acquired SunOpta BioProcess, a division of SunOpta Inc. (STKL) This combination brings together the fiber preparation and pretreatment technologies of SBI and the consolidated bioprocessing technology of Mascoma, to create a company with comprehensive capabilities for converting non-food cellulose (wood chips, energy crops and organic solid waste) into ethanol and high value co-products.

,,,But Brazil is right there – cars in the market, distribution of ethanol is ubiquitous, and drivers are used to the mechanics of figuring out if gasoline or ethanol is a good buy for their flex-fuel cars in a given week. Plus, pipelines are in place and more are being built.

Brazil has, well, a lot of bagasse, used right now for combustion to generate renewable power for the sugarcane mills and to supply power to the grid. On a good day you get 400 Kwh per tonne of bagasse – about $40 worth of power per tonne if you have pretty good pricing. Those tonnes hold up to 100 gallons of ethanol, worth as much as $160 per tonne, plus there is still residue to burn for some residual power.