The Big Launch: PM Modi inaugurates India’s first 2G ethanol project, using Praj technology

August 11, 2022 | Jim Lane

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s first 2G cellulosic ethanol biorefinery, the Indian Oil project at Panipat, Haryana. This 100 KLPD Project is based on Praj’s proprietary technology processing Rice Straw as feedstock for production of Ethanol. Praj is the Technology Licensor and EPCM Consultant to IOCL

This is the first but far from the last project based on Praj technology. The company is a technology partner in the Hindustan Petroleum project in Bhatinda, Punjab and the Bharat Petroleum project in Bargarh, Orissa.

The Indian Oil project backstory

This 100 KLPD 2G Ethanol Bio-Refinery spans across 35 acres processing 200,000 tonnes of Rice Straw (Lignocellulosic feedstock), and is producing producing 30 million liters of ethanol annually. Commissioning of the plant is underway and commercial production of 2G Ethanol will commence within 90 days.

Alcohol-to-jet as a path forward?

We reported last November that Praj and Indian Oil inked an MoU to explore opportunities to fast-track India’s transition to leaner and greener sources of energy by exploring avenues such as the production of Alcohol to Jet fuels, 1G & 2G Ethanol, Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) and related opportunities in the biofuels industry. Exploring these green energy horizons will be crucial for India to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.

As pert of the MoU, Indian Oil and Praj will also collaborate to set up Biofuel production facilities, including CBG, Biodiesel and Ethanol. The two companies would also work together to facilitate the sales and marketing of various co-products and intermediates produced from these facilities. Praj and Indian Oil would explore and jointly work towards forming a 50:50 Joint Venture and identify partners to form special purpose vehicles under the proposed alliance. Biofuels is an essential part of India’s flourishing Bioeconomy and will play a significant role in sustainable climate actions to help India fulfill its Nationally Determined Contributions as per COP 21, Paris Summit.

New technology frontiers

In April, we reported that Praj is collaborating with the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), and is developing a binder that will help blend ethanol with diesel. More on that story here.

Last December, we reported that Praj has a new, innovative solution to process sugarcane juice into a new sustainable feedstock BIOSYRUP for round the year ethanol production. Sugarcane juice is a perishable and seasonal feedstock that cannot be stored for more than 24 hours. Praj has developed a patented technology to process cane juice into conditioned BIOSYRUP that has storability of up to 12 months. This facilitates sugar mills to produce ethanol beyond sugar season thus helping increase production capacity & maximize revenue. Praj’s first of its’ kind patented technology for producing BIOSYRUP® was successfully demonstrated during the launch ceremony held at M/s Jaywant Sugars, Satara on December 3.

The Indian Oil backstory

In August 2019, we reported that Indian Oil Company plans to invest nearly $3.5 billion in green energy projects across a wide-ranging portfolio of renewables including 2G and 3G biofuels as part of its roadmap to reduce its impact on climate change. Hydrogen CNG and hydrogen fuel cells are among the other areas of renewable fuels where it is leveraging R&D in order to be a step ahead of the market. In addition to the 2G ethanol plants it has already announced and a pilot 3G ethanol plant, it is also looking to integrate biofuels into its fossil fuel refineries.

More information on the scope of IOCL’s biofuels ambitions arrived early last year, when we reported in March 2021 that Indian Oil Company plans to set up two mega-biorefineries, one in Telangana and the other in Andhra Pradesh. The facilities are the first of 12 IOC expects to develop in different states across the country. The two biorefineries will use wheat and paddy straw as feedstock for ethanol production, having installed capacity of 500,000 liters per day each. The Telangana government has already offered two potential sites for the project but the company has yet to have discussions with Andhra Pradesh.

Hydrogen news arrived last year. In July 2021, we reported that Indian Oil is developing the country’s first green hydrogen project, co-located at its Mathura oil refinery. They hydrogen will be produced from the company’s wind power project in Rajasthan that will be “wheeled” to the Mathura refinery. The hydrogen produced from the project is expected to fuel the hydrogen fuel cell-powered and H-CNG fueled buses currently being trialed in New Delhi. Although the company is expanding its oil refining capacity, that increased production is set to use renewable energy rather than fossil-based electricity in an effort to reduce the carbon intensity of its fuels.

By this spring, there was concern being shared in India that the oil majors may be less committed than before to 2G biofuels. In March, we reported that Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum were backtracking on commitments to build second generation ethanol facilities, finding it too difficult to do so and costing 10 times as much to do as first generation. Instead, reports suggested that the companies would focus on 1G production for the most part. A senior official from one of the companies said it had committed to building 12 2G facilities but will now only build five. Compressed biogas facilities are seen as a cheaper way than 2G ethanol to produce energy by using up crop waste.

The Praj backstory, The Digest Q&A

Q: Tell us about your organization. What do you do?

Praj, India’s most accomplished industrial biotechnology company driven by innovation, integration, and delivery capabilities. Over the past four decades, Praj has focused on the environment, energy, and agri-process industry, with over 1000++ customer references spanning 100+ countries across 5 continents. With sustainability at its core Praj’s solutions are supported by its state-of-the-art R&D Centre Matrix & Manufacturing facilities. Listed in NSE & BSE, Praj is headquartered in India.

Q: What stage of development are you?

Commercial stage – have mature products or services on the market.

Q: What do your technologies, products or services do and accomplish – how does it (they) work, who is it (they) aimed for?

Praj’s Bioenergy profile includes Traditional Biofuels: 1G Ethanol; Advance Biofuels: 2G Ethanol and CBG; Next Gen Fuels: SAF, Bio-Marine fuel, Bio-Methanol and Bio-Hydrogen. Praj offers engineering & manufacturing solutions with Critical Process Equipment and Skids; offers customized plants, equipment and technologies with Brewery and Beverages; offers industrial effluent treatment, recycling and ZLD systems with Wastewater Treatment; offers ultra-high purity water systems, modular process with Hi Purity systems.

Q: Competitively, what gives your technology, product or service set an edge in cost or performance, sustainability, or any other aspect, that makes it stand out from the crowd, In short, what makes it transformative?

Regulatory norms are stringent, making Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) solutions an imperative. A ZLD system implies no liquid waste goes outside the manufacturing facility. Praj offers techniques like recycle and reuse, evaporation and crystallization to design ZLD systems. Praj offers solutions for industrial effluent treatment, recycling and ZLD systems for customers in metals, power, chemicals, fertilizers, refinery and petrochemicals, F&B. Zero Waste and Zero Discharge is an integral to our solution.

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you have accomplished in the past 3 years?

1. 2020: Inauguration of Nation’s first of its kind Biomass to CBG Demo facility

2. 2021: Developing innovative technology to produce Bio-bitumen based on lignin, an Eco-friendly renewable material for road construction

3. 2022: Global Launch of BIOSYRUP- a new sustainable feedstock for year-round Ethanol Production

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you will accomplish in the next 3 years?

1. Develop Bio-Prism, a ground-breaking technology for production of Renewable Chemicals & Materials (RCM)

2. Develop Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by processing cane molasses as feedstock for Jet Fuel

3. Develop Next Gen biofuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), BioMarine fuel, bio methanol and biohydrogen

The Multi-Slide Guide to Praj

Our Multi-Slide Guide, Near Net Zero 2G Ethanol and Cellulosic Sugar: The Digest’s 2022 Multi-Slide Guide to Praj, is here. https://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2022/03/09/near-net-zero-2g-ethanol-and-cellulosic-sugar-the-digests-2022-multi-slide-guide-to-praj/