Brazilian President opens new cellulosic ethanol plant using Iogen technology

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched Iogen Energy's cellulosic ethanol technology at the official opening of Raizen's newly expanded Costa Pinto sugar cane mill in Piracicaba, Brazil.

Iogen, a cellulosic biofuel technology developer, and Raizen, one of the world's largest producers of sugarcane ethanol, completed construction of the $105 million (appr. €95 million) advanced biofuel facility on time and on budget in December 2014.

The facility converts biomass such as sugar cane bagasse and straw into advanced, second generation cellulosic biofuel.

It is the first large-scale commercial implementation of Iogen's cellulosic ethanol technology, which the company developed and has tested in its Ottawa, Canada demonstration facility.

At the event President Rousseff said: ‘The production of second generation ethanol from sugarcane bagasse is the realisation of a dream for the country. The collaboration between the State and Raizen is part of the government's commitment to ethanol production as a strategic measure for economic development.’

‘This is paving the way for the sugarcane energy industry to consolidate its markets both in the Brazilian and world economies,’ said Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy Eduardo Braga during the ceremony.

‘We are very excited to have successfully completed this milestone event proving the commercial viability of cellulosic biofuels,’ says Brian Foody, CEO of Iogen. ‘It has been a great partnership and we're very pleased to be collaborating with a major ethanol industry player and committed partner like Raizen. Large scale commercialization in Brazil will open the door for global deployment of our technology.’

Raizen had previously announced it intends to deploy Iogen's technology in seven more sugar cane mills.

‘We plan to be producing up to 1 billion litres of cellulosic biofuel from bagasse and cane straw by 2024,’ says Pedro Mizutani, Raizen's executive vice president.