Thought Leadership: The Digest speaks with Sebastian Soederberg, Novozymes’ VP for Biomass Conversion on the cellulosic ethanol industry. Sebastian, you are fond of saying that the cellulosic ethanol production is a technology that is evolving beyond market hype to commercialization. Why? If you look at charts of installed capacity since the 1990s for a variety of clean-tech […]
Tell us about your role at Novozymes. I’m responsible for Novozymes’ biomass activities on the commercial side; I’ve been doing this for close to three years. My background is as an economist and investment banker. Novozymes began its efforts in this area in 2001 with more than 100 scientists and a lot of public affairs […]
In India, Novozymes and Beta Renewables are working to establish a 75 million liter per year cellulosic ethanol plant in Punjab using 3 million metric tons of paddy straw as feedstock. The $153.7 million plant could lead the way for $1 billion in investment of five other plants in the state if successful.
In Denmark, Novozymes’ CEO says $40 oil over the long term could wane interest in second generation ethanol but above that, lower ethanol prices will just weigh down the cost of feedstock which can only make cellulosic ethanol more attractive. He expects oil to reach back up to $80 a barrel. He also said that […]
In Denmark, Novozymes isn’t phased by the drop in oil prices to 2009 levels, saying that it will stay the course in cellulosic biofuels that it has invested in since 2002. The company says that commodity prices change but that cellulosic biofuels will eventually be competitive with oil, and it’s willing to wait around a […]
In Washington, the US Senate passed the tax extenders bill, including the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit, 76-16. The tax extender legislation including a one-year retroactive extension of four key advanced biofuels tax provisions as part of a larger package of tax credit extensions. These four advanced biofuels incentives include: (1) the Second Generation […]
In Denmark, Novozymes announced the launch of Novozymes Eversa®, the first commercially available enzymatic solution to make biodiesel from waste oils. The enzymatic process converts used cooking oil or other lower grade oils into biodiesel. Biodiesel producers can thereby reduce their raw material costs. The resulting biodiesel is sold to the same trade specification as […]
“On the way” forever, talked up by all, deployed by some – technologies that handle high free fatty acid feedstocks like used cooking oil are coming into their hey-day, via players like REG, Novozymes, Pacific Biodiesel, Blue Sun, Piedmont, COMAC and more. Christmas come early for advanced biofuels? The Digest investigates. One of the most […]
In Malaysia, Brooke Renewables and Hock Lee Group presented a Letter of Intent to the Sarawak State Government marking their intention to invest in the 2G Bioethanol and Bio chemical plant as the first phase of the $1B, 5-year Sarawak Biomass Hub project. The tri-party LOI signed is for the use of Beta Renewables’ Biomass […]
We look at EPA delays on RFS, the consequences, the hoped-for silver lining, fueling infrastructure at the heart of the dispute, and the RFS’ strategic intent. Have no doubt about it, the troubles with the United States’ Renewable Fuel Standard has very little to do with carbon, or energy security, or mandates, or renewable fuel […]
