UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery in commercial production Ceres and Raízen sign multi-year US based Ceres, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company, and Brazilian energy company Raízen S.A., have announced the signing of a multi-year collaboration deal to develop and produce sweet sorghum on an industrial scale. Sweet sorghum can be grown to complement existing feedstock supplies and extend the operating season of Brazilian sugarcane-to-ethanol mills. Under the collaboration, the companies will each contribute in-kind services and resources and share in the revenue from the ethanol produced from Ceres’ sweet sorghum above certain levels. This season, Raízen has planted Ceres’ sweet sorghum evaluation in a single location and plans to expand to multiple mills in the seasons to come. – The ethanol industry in Brazil has a history of successfully competing against low-priced oil and we believe that sweet sorghum, which has lower production costs than sugarcane, can be further developed and scaled up as an integral part of the industry’s feedstock supply, said Ceres President and CEO Richard Hamilton. Ceres also markets high biomass sorghum to mills and other agri-industrial facilities for use in generating electricity, heat and steam in Brazil. In the US, Ceres is marketing improved forage sorghum hybrids to dairies and livestock producers. Raízen, a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan, is Brazil’s fifth largest company in terms of revenue and the nation’s leading producer of sugarcane ethanol. With 24 sugar and ethanol facilities, the company produces more than 2 billion liters of ethanol, 4.5 million tonnes of sugar and 900 MW of electricity from biomass each year. The company has taken a keen interest in developing and scaling up sweet sorghum as a means to grow margins and increase supply for its sugar and ethanol facilities. The company has conducted field and industrial evaluations of Ceres’ sweet sorghum hybrids since 2011. BI78/4809/AS Bioenergy International No 78, 2-2015 23 The world’s first wood-based renewable diesel biorefinery, UPM’s Lappeenranta Biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland began commercial production in January this year. The 175 million EUR biorefinery investment is based on a hydrotreatment process developed by Finnish forest industry major UPM. The plant, which is located on the same site as the UPM Kaukas pulp and paper mill, has an annual production capacity of approximately 120 million litres or 100 000 tonnes of renewable diesel, the UPM branded BioVerno diesel. – Lappeenranta Biorefinery is the first significant investment in a new and innovative production facility in Finland during the ongoing transformation of the forest industry, commented Heikki Vappula, Executive Vice President, UPM Biorefining adding that the investment by UPM was without any public grants. – The start-up phase of the biorefinery began in early autumn, and has included customary new process and production related challenges. We are now happy to move forward to concentrate on regular production process, said Petri Kukkonen, Head of UPM Biofuels. Refined pulp residue The UPM BioVerno diesel is produced out of crude tall oil, a residue of pulp production. Much of this feedstock is sourced from UPM’s own pulp mills in Finland. According to UPM, its BioVerno diesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent compared to fossil diesel. UPM has a sales agreement with North European Swedish ethanol research and development company Taurus Energy AB has revealed that it is “in the process of signing” a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lallemand Biofuels, one of the world’s largest yeast suppliers. Taurus Energy has held a number of previous discussions with US based Lallemand, which has carried out tests using Taurus Energy’s second-generation yeast, XyloFerm®, including culturing of the yeast and its fermentation properties and propagation. These tests have resulted in a positive response from Lallemand that according to Taurus have expressed interest in signing a commercial agreement with Taurus Energy. BI78/4796/AS Oil Trade (NEOT), a wholesale distributor of oil and biofuel products. Construction of the UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery started in summer 2012 and the foundation stone was laid in November of the same year. The biorefinery employs around 50 staff directly and another 150 indirectly. Of State significance At the beginning of March, HM King Carl Gustaf XVI and HM Queen Silvia of Sweden visited the Lappeenranta Biorefinery together with the President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and his spouse, Jenni Haukio as part of the state visit programme of the Swedish Royal couple in Finland. The biorefinery was chosen to form part of the programme due to its uniqueness. The delegation included the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Margot Wallström, the Minister of Education, Gustav Fridolin, and a number of Swedish business leaders and members of the UPM Board and Executive Team. – Lappeenranta has made industrial history as the biorefinery marks the first investment in a new, innovative production facility in Finland as part of the transformation of the forest industry. The visit of two heads of state is a great way of publically recognising the work done here - and the courage that is required to renew, said Jussi Pesonen. Text: Alan Sherrard Photo: courtesy UPM BI78/4791/AS sweet sorghum deal Taurus Energy expect to sign MoU with Lallemand Biofuels (From right) HM King Carl Gustaf XVI and HM Queen Silvia of Sweden, President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and his spouse, Mrs Jenni Haukio, Björn Wahlroos UPM chairman. FEATURE: BIOMASS TO LIQUIDS
Bioenergy no 2 - March 2015
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