MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant said today that it has licensed its sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology to Eta Bio, a recently established company owned by the Pavlovi family, running a leading business in the agricultural sector in Bulgaria, according to Chemweek.
Eta Bio was established to construct, own and operate a commercial plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural waste. The deal represents Clariant’s fourth agreement to license the technology and is another significant step towards its commercialization.
Eta Bio will be responsible for the project’s development and plant operation at a greenfield site in General Toshevo, the north eastern region of Bulgaria, utilizing available land, owned by the Pavlovi family, and existing infrastructure. The facility will be designed to produce 50,000 metric tons/year of cellulosic ethanol by processing around 250,000 metric tons/year of wheat straw, which is an abundant resource in the region, also known as the granary of Bulgaria.
“Our sunliquid technology is trendsetting for the development of sustainable and advanced biofuels. The…technology meets the market needs for sustainable solutions and gives us a competitive edge”, said Hans Bohnen, Clariant’s COO. “After signing license agreements with first-generation ethanol producers, as well as mineral oil players, we are excited to also gain a foothold in another important customer segment – the
agricultural sector – with our sunliquid® technology”, adds Christian Librera, Clariant’s head of biofuels and derivatives business line.
“The realization of the first Bulgarian cellulosic ethanol production project will help solve one of the main challenges agricultural producers face in the region – the removal of straw from the fields. This project will give us the chance to have an additional revenue stream from agricultural leftovers,” said Kiril Pavlov, managing director of Eta Bio.
The cellulosic ethanol will be used as a gasoline additive to fulfil the country’s blending mandate for advanced biofuels, as laid out in the Renewable Energy Directive II. The agreement covers the supply of the license, basic engineering, provision of technical services, as well as the supply of starter cultures from Clariant’s proprietary enzyme and yeast platform to process Eta Bio’s feedstock into cellulosic ethanol.
As MRC reported earlier, in June 2020, TechnipFMC and Clariant Catalysts entered into a joint development agreement for the demonstration and commercialisation of Clariant’s new state-of-the-art AcryloMax propylene ammoxidation catalyst for the production of acrylonitrile (ACN).
Besides, in May 2020, Clariant’s CATOFIN catalysts was selected by Advanced Global Investment Co. (AGIC), a joint venture between Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC) and SK Group, to build a PDH facility in the Middle East.
Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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