M&G Chemicals, Anhui Guozhen ink pact to build world’s largest cellulosic biofuels plant
Source: By Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest • Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2014
From China, we hear that M&G Chemicals announced a joint venture with Anhui Guozhen CO, using PROESA technology licensed by Beta Renewables to convert 970,000-1,300,000 metric tons per year of agricultural residues into cellulosic ethanol, glycols and by-products such as lignin in Fuyang City (Anhui Province, PRC).
The biomass will be supplied by Guozhen under a long term fixed price agreement, and the enzymes needed for the conversion of the biomass will be supplied by Novozymes as earlier announced.
M&G and Guozhen shareholding in the Green Refinery joint venture are 70% and 30% respectively and the total joint venture investment is estimated to be around $325 million, to construct what will be by far the largest cellulosic (i.e. using non-food biomass) bio-refinery in the world.
The two companies further expect to soon announce the creation of a second joint venture, to convert the lignin into steam and electricit