EU-tilskud til sukkerrørs-baseret bio-ethanol

In 2009, Novozymes A/S secured funding for a project converting sugarcane by-products into bioethanol from the EUs 7th Framework Programme in collaboration with a European-Brazilian consortium. Innovayt assisted Novozymes with drafting and coordination of the EU funding application, as well as with contract negotiations with the European Commission after positive evaluation of the application.

For Novozymes, as a supplier of enzymes for 2^nd Generation bioethanol technology, EU funding for the project represents an attractive opportunity to engage with highly attractive markets and partners in South America. Sugarcane is already used to make bioethanol in Brazil, but the residue material from the crushed sugarcane, called bagasse, has so far only been used for generating steam for heating or distillation internally in sugar production. In the EU funded project, the objective is to develop a process converting bagasse and residues into biofuel, which could create a breakthrough for 2^nd Generation biofuel technology and open up attractive markets for Novozymes and its partners. At the moment, biofuels are the only real alternative to gasoline if CO2 emissions from the transport sector are to be reduced. The transport sector is responsible for approximately 25% of the planet’s energy-related CO2 emissions today, and this proportion is increasing.

The bagasse project is being run in collaboration with Novozymes’ researchers in Denmark and Brazil together with a number of external partners: Lund University in Sweden; Centro de Tecnologia Canavieiro and the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil.