Sugar based chemistry has great potential. Willem Sederel, director of
Biobased Delta, emphasized this at the official opening of a pilot
production plant for bioethanol at Acrres in Lelystad this week.
"I certainly see potential for bio-refineries that process sugar beet on
a local scale," Sederel says. “Although there are still some issues to
be tackled, and that is exactly what the pilot plant is built for.” “Not
only does the underlying patented Betaprocess technology has to be be
scaled up, the process must also be able to run on different types of
feedstock as well. After all, sugar beet can only cover part of the
year. Ideally, you would wish to produce the whole year round, using
other raw materials as well."
Also, the chemical industry must be abled to purchase this bioethanol,
which is a matter of adequate and sufficient supply. As long as there
are only a couple of producing farmers, this will not be sufficient. It
is all about scale, and by extension pricing. Sederel particular sees
opportunities for niche products, still worth millions of tons a year.
Like for instance bio-components like ethylene, mono-ethylene glycol
(MEG) and (bio) ethylene oxide for producing acrylates, coatings,
personal care products, etc.
The pilot plant in Lelystad will be started up soon as possible. This
plant will produce 150.000 m3 of bio-ethanol annually. The Betaprocess
technology operates on the principle of vacuum extrusion (at a
temperature of about 70°C). DSD says this technology is so effective,
that the hydrolysis step does not require enzymes anymore. This is not
only cost saving, Hans van Klink (DSD) says, it also increases the yield
(bioethanol and biogas) and lowers the digestate volume.
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