Alkol Biotech sells large batch of sugarcane bagasse for 2G ethanol testing

Alkol Biotech, a UK-based biofuels research specialist, has announced that it has sold 500 kilos of EUnergyCane’s sugarcane bagasse for scientific cellulosic ethanol technology testing.

The EUnergyCane consortium is a group of companies, universities, and government entities directly involved in the improvement of cold-resistant sugarcane, which is also called EUnergyCane.

Although the company did not name the customer it sold the batch to, it maintained that the client is a leading 2G ethanol technology producer from Europe. In a statement, Alkol said that its client’s “purpose is being able to produce real results to sugarcane-based ethanol producers from Brazil and other countries”.

According to Alkol, in Brazil alone there are more than 380 sugarcane mills.

However, most of those mills use the bagasse to produce electricity, so there is an increasing interest to use it instead to produce cellulosic ethanol, as companies such as GranBio are already proving its viability.

In a statement, Alkol said there is “a positive outlook in that market due to the recent impeachment of Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff, whose government was considered very negative to the local ethanol market”.

However, for 2G ethanol technology producers in Europe, until now the option was to import sugarcane bagasse from producing countries such as Brazil or India.

In a statement, Akol added: “In fact, that was the route chosen recently by a major 2G ethanol producer from Germany, which reportedly imported 40 containers from Brazil. The problem with that approach is the extensive phytosanitary and regulatory procedures required, which usually meant more than eight months of delays (thus, costs), not considering the transport itself.”

Also, the final product was adulterated due to the extensive fumigation and the fact it had to come frozen, thus making the results unreliable and thus the sale of the technology to a naturally mistrusting sugarcane ethanol producer, challenging.

However, the fact that the EUnergyCane variety grows in European territory means it can bypass those procedures and the client is able to receive the product in just a few days.

In fact, the client received it refrigerated in just two days by regular truck, Alkol said.

The bagasse came from a sugarcane variety developed by EUnergyCane. It is grown in the company's fields in the city of Motril in Spain, and is a hybrid of naturally occurring sugarcane varieties grown for more than 200 years. In fact, until now it is the only genuinely native sugarcane variety in Europe and the company is improving it to grow in UK and Europe.

Alkol’s founder Al Costa said: “I am quite proud to realise we are the only producers of sugarcane in the entire European continent. At first our model was constantly challenged, but this sale proves we are indeed in the right track, which means funding to take the EUnergyCane to the next level. I know it is just a matter of time until we see sugarcane being grown in regions when no one would ever dare to.

“After all, no one remembers corn actually came from Mexico and the tomatoes we eat in Europe are grown in the Almeria desert. So at the end it’s just a matter of passion and hard work.”