Beta Renewables: Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide

October 29, 2012 |

Company description: Beta Renewables — a subsidiary of Chemtex, and Grupo M&G — has developed and deployed a low-cost cellulosic biofuels technology, known as PROESA.

Chemtex employs approximately 1000 staff located in key centers throughout the world – Tortona and Rivalta in Italy, Wilmington, NC and Sharon Center, OH in the USA, Shanghai and Beijing in China and Mumbai, Bangalore and Baroda in India.

Chemtex is a full service project solution provider that offers state-of-the-art technologies (licensed and own), technology development (from its R&D facilities in the USA and Italy) and a complete range of project management, engineering, strategic sourcing and construction services for its clients throughout the world.

Address:
Italy Headquarters: Chemtex Italia S.r.l. Strada Ribrocca, 11 15057 Tortona (AL), Italy
USA Operations Center: Chemtex International Inc. 1979 Eastwood Road, Wilmington NC 28403

Year founded:
1958

Chief Executive Officer:
Guido Ghisolfi – CEO, Chemtex Group and Beta Renewables

Major Investors

Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi (“M&G”) is presently the world’s largest producer of PET for packaging applications with 1.7 million ton of capacity annually. M&G is also a technological leader in the polyester market. Group sales proceeds in 2008 were almost $2.6B. The group has manufacturing assets in Brazil, Italy, Mexico and USA and supports three R&D facilities in Rivalta, Italy; Sharon Center, Ohio; and in Poços de Caldas, Brazil.

Type of Technology(ies)

Chemtex and its parent, Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi, have invested significant funds and have dedicated years of effort into the development of the PROESA ligno- cellulosic bioethanol technology. We have engineered and constructed a continuous
pilot facility in Rivalta, Italy where we have developed a unique bio-mass pretreatment and hydrolysis process, for which 11 patents applications have been filed, for transforming cellulosic feedstocks into sugar for conversion into ethanol and/or bio- based chemicals.

Feedstocks:

PROESA technology has the capability to use a wide variety of feedstocks. Successful testing has been completed for a number of different energy crops (Arundo Donax, Miscanthus, Fiber Sorghum and Switchgrass) and biomasses including corn stover, rice husk and straw (wheat and barley).

Fuel Type:

The PROESA platform includes an integrated solution for ethanol and power production. The sugars produced from the PROESA pretreatment and hydrolysis process can be also be converted to renewable diesel and a range of bio-based chemicals using the bio-technology of third parties.

Fuel Cost:

Based on pilot plant results, and backed by extensive agronomic studies, the PROESA solution is expected to produce ethanol that is competitive to commercial grade fossil fuels based on an oil price of USD 50-70/bbl. For bio-based chemicals, the PROESA pretreatment technology is expected to be capable of producing fermentable sugars at approximately 50-60% of the cost of market sucrose.

Co-products:
The PROESA ethanol platform can also provide power, based on the burning of
lignin, as a co-product for national grids.

4 Top Past Milestones

1. Successful start up of the PROESA pilot plant in June 2009 in Rivalta, Italy.
2. Completion of the Basic Design package for the first 40,000 ton per annum PROESA Second Generation Demonstration Plant in Crescentino, Italy.
3. Formed Beta Renewables as JV between Chemtex and TPG Capital.
4. Signed global partnership with Novozymes as preferred enzyme supplier, including a $115M investment by Novozymes for 10% of  Beta Renewables.

Future Milestones

1. Start up of the 20 million gallon PROESA Demonstration Plant in Cresentino, Italy in
Q4, 2012.
2. Conversion of a first generation (1G) ethanol plant to utilize PROESA second generation (2G) technology in Crescentino by year end
3. Start up of an integrated Biorefinery in the USA utilizing PROESA as the core technology.

Business Model:
Full project solutions (license and EPC services) to both ethanol producers (existing or new) and bio-based chemical producers and/or their licensees.

Competitive Edge(s):

The PROESA solution is backed-up by extensive agronomic research into crop yields and crop management. Preferred biomasses (yielding up to 50 tons per hectare of usable feedstock on dry matter basis or 12 tons per hectare of ethanol) have been identified and tested and their associated logistic issues (harvesting, handling, etc.), are factored into the PROESAT solution.

Key features of the technology include:
• Although yields may slightly differ, PROESA Technology has the capability to use a large variety of biomass as collected (without further processing).
• A unique pre-treatment and hydrolysis process that produces a high yield of quality and low cost sugar from cellulosic biomass for conversion to ethanol and/or bio-based chemicals.
• High efficiency in viscosity reduction enzymatic hydrolysis. • Simultaneous fermentation of C5 and C6 sugars. • Energy integration with high efficiency burning of lignin.

The cost of the carbon feed is a most important driver in the economics of any biofuels/bio-based chemicals plant. Chemtex believes that its PROESA Technology is a “game-changer’ as it requires no chemicals in the pre-treatment stage to generate good yields thereby resulting in a design that offers the lowest capex and opex when compared to alternative technologies. The PROESA solution is expected to produce ethanol that is competitive to commercial grade fossil fuels based on an oil price of USD 50-70/bbl. For bio-based chemicals, the PROESA pretreatment technology is expected to be capable of producing fermentable sugars at approximately 50-60% of the cost of market sucrose.

Distribution, Research, Marketing or Production Partnerships or Alliances.

Beta will be the provider of the technology and will implement projects for interested licensees of the technology.

Current alliances include the agreement to jointly market the PROESA technology and Novozymes enzymes.

In addition the company has an agreement with Amyris to integrate PROESA lignocellulosic technology into their platform to produce renewable fuels and chemicals.

Chemtex has also been awarded with substantial contributions (40 million USD) by European Institutions as co-sharing / support for the Research and Development program.

Stage:

A 40,000 ton per annum PROESA Demonstration Plant is under development with an anticipated start-up date of Q4 2012.

Company website: 

Category: 5-Minute Guide

Thank you for visting the Digest.