Avantium starts construction on YXY-based biofuels, chems pilot plant in Netherlands

In the Netherlands, Avantium announced that it has started with the construction of a pilot plant at the Chemelot site (Geleen, the Netherlands), based on its catalytic process to convert carbohydrates into furanic building blocks under the brand name YXY.

The pilot plant is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2011.  Avantium is collaborating with industrial partners such as NatureWorks (a subsidiary of Cargill) and Teijin Aramid to develop novel materials on basis of its YXY building blocks. The pilot plant is partly funded by a EUR 1 million grant from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture.

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