FRANCE: Converting Woody Biomass into Ethanol

Achieving the dual goals of waste minimization and ethanol production is the objective of a new pilot project collaboration being undertaken in France. Wherever there are forests, paper mills, and logging there will be ample supplies of waste woody biomass that needs to be dealt with. In this scenario, Genencor enzyme technology will be applied to the minimization of milling process residue.

Here are excerpts from a Renewable Energy Access report. A press release from Genecor is also available online.


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This Week in the Ethanol Business
from Renewable Energy Access

Over in France this week it was announced that Genencor International, a subsidiary of Danisco A/S, will participate in a research consortium to develop economic ethanol production from paper pulp with help from the French forest products industry. The 1.2 million Euros [USD$1.5 million] project will deliver a baseline study of the technical and economic results of a small pilot plant installed at a pulp mill with a focus on waste minimization of the milling process.

"France is one of the leaders in the forest product industry and in related technical applications research," said Jean-Claude Pommier, Executive President of the Strategic Committee at the Institut du Pin -- Universite de Bordeaux. "We believe adding a biorefinery capacity to the paper pulp industry will be a sustainable innovation that will have broad impact."

Genencor will provide its advanced biomass cellulases and application expertise to optimize the enzymatic hydrolysis of various paper-pulp samples provided by Tembec and the Pine Institute. Tembec will analyze the economics to evaluate the system for commercial deployment by the pulp industry. INSA's Laboratory for Biotechnology and Bioprocessing will provide fermentation expertise The Pine Institute will share its expertise in pulping and handling, and in lignocellulose analysis and characterization.


technorati bioenergy, Genencor, ethanol, feedstock, biomass, France, enzyme, wood