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Novozymes product to help biofuels industry reduce costs

Industrial enzymes producer Novozymes believes it has a new product that could improve the profitability and efficiency of biofuel production.

The product, named Avantec,  is said to allow corn ethanol producers the ability to get a further 2.5% ethanol out of the feedstock.

‘Corn is the single biggest input cost for an ethanol producer and, as prices have gone up, profits have disappeared,’ says Novozymes Executive VP Peder Holk Nielsen. ‘Avantec allows producers to save a lot of corn and still produce the same amount of ethanol, boosting bottom-lines.’

Novozymes believes that, for a typical ethanol plant in the US, savings could be substantial. A plant which uses around 900,000 tonnes of feed-grade corn per year, to produce 100 million gallons of fuel ethanol, 300,000 tonnes of animal feed (DDGS) and 8,500 tonnes of corn oil, could potentially save 22,500 tonnes of corn while maintaining the same ethanol output.

‘Most US ethanol plants convert 90-95% of the available starch, so there is significant potential for plant owners to increase output and maximize profits,’ adds Nielsen. ‘In fact, if all ethanol plants in the US started using our product, we believe they could save 3 million tonnes of corn.’





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