Second-generation ethanol production is overcoming the technical difficulties that delayed its development and is now seen as commercially competitive, with oil prices close to 70 dollars a barrel, industry representatives said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As countries around the world prepare to meet their respective commitments under the Paris climate agreement, the global increase in regulations favoring advanced biofuels and programs that tax carbon-based fuels is creating a more positive environment, biofuel executives said at the \u201cForum Brasil Bioeconomia 2018\u201d seminar in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n
After years of investment and technical setbacks, second-generation or cellulosic biofuels are seen as the future of green fuels, since they can be made from various types of biomass, overcoming criticism of the use of food crops to produce fuel and sharply reducing vehicle carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a moment of great excitement some 5 or 6 years ago, then came a \u2018downsize\u2019, with players leaving the field and announcing huge difficulties in operating plants in a stable way,\u201d said Victor Uchoa, head of biorefining in Latin America at the biotechnology company Novozymes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that time is behind us; we are on an upward trend again, and Ra\u00edzen is an excellent example of that, showing both in Brazil and abroad that it can be done and can be profitable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ra\u00edzen, a joint venture between Shell and Cosan, is producing around 40 million liters of cellulosic ethanol a year at its plant in Piracicaba, in the State of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have solved the operational problems, production is currently stable and we are hitting the planned numbers,\u201d Raphaella Gomes, head of Ra\u00edzen\u2019s innovation division, told Reuters on the sidelines of the seminar.<\/p>\n
The joint venture has previously said that it sells all of its second-generation ethanol production at a price premium over regular sugarcane ethanol because of its environmental credentials.<\/p>\n
Cellulosic ethanol in Brazil is made mainly from sugarcane bagasse and straw. Novozymes supplied Ra\u00edzen with the enzymes used in the fermentation process, which was another technological challenge, since biomass requires a new type of fermentation to produce ethanol.<\/p>\n
Mauricio Adade, head of Latin America at DSM, a company that supplies products for cellulose fermentation, said that in other countries \u2013 including the United States, where second-generation ethanol is made from corn residues \u2013 production is very close to being financially viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith oil at around 70 dollars, we can compete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Adade expects strong demand from Asian countries such as China and India, which are seeking to drastically cut carbon emissions from the transportation sector.<\/p>\n
By Marcelo Teixeira, Reuters
\nhttps:\/\/exame.abril.com.br\/economia\/etanol-de-2a-geracao-dribla-problemas-tecnicos-e-e-visto-como-competitivo\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Second-generation ethanol production is overcoming the technical difficulties that delayed its development and is now seen as commercially competitive, with oil prices close to 70 dollars a barrel, industry representatives said on Tuesday. As countries around the world prepare to meet their respective commitments under the Paris climate agreement, the global increase in regulations favoring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t