Project description
New prospects for ethanol production
For decades, experts have been seeking ways to wean industries off fossil fuels, trying to rebuild cities with greener modes of transportation. Ethanol offers a suitable alternative but the economic feasibility of its production has been a challenge for the industry. The EU-funded NewLiEP project is introducing a novel fermentation process that provides superior productivity with lower operational and capital expenses. This approach will be demonstrated in near-industrial scale. It has the potential to become the primary fermentation technology used in fuel ethanol plants, meeting the growing demand for more sustainable fuels, and supporting broader bids to reach the EU environmental targets in emission reduction.
Objective
Global environmental situation creates an urgent need for more sustainable transportation fuels. Ethanol made from lignocellulosic biomass is suitable for substituting fossil fuels in transportation and has potential to reduce greenhouse gas emission by up to 80%, compared to fossil fuels. Lignocellulose-based ethanol utilizes agricultural or forestry waste and does not involve crops otherwise dedicated for human food or animal feed. However, economic feasibility of this production approach has been a challenge for the industry. The project aims to close this gap by introducing a novel fermentation process with superior productivity and lower operational and capital expenses.
In this project, a novel fermentation concept, CoRyFee, will be further developed and demonstrated in near-industrial scale. This technology is superior to those on the market due to its performance and unparalleled feedstock flexibility. It will enable use of softwood – feed stock that cannot currently be effectively utilized by any available technology. The project combines capabilities of the technology partners, Terranol and SEKAB, and will be done in cooperation with a potential customer, Kanteleen Voima in Finland. This will ensure meeting customer expectations to performance and product business model, therefore creating solid foundation for commercialization.
Upon successful completion of the project, the technology has the potential to become the primary fermentation technology used in fuel ethanol plants. Productised to be sold on the license basis, it will become commercially available by 2021 and create significant business opportunity for the partners, with 6 plants expected to be built using the technology by 2025. This will result in new R&D, engineering and operations job creation. Most importantly, development of this high-performing technology will help meet the growing demand for more sustainable fuels and support reaching the EU environmental targets in emission reduction.
Fields of science
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybioprocessing technologiesfermentation
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
2450 Copenhagen
Denmark
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.