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15|06|2009 - 17h25Cellulose in Campinas

A Brazilian pilot plant fuels the country’s changing direction in ethanol

By Emily Waltz - Scientific American

At a press conference in February in Campinas, Brazil, molecular physicist Marco A. P. Lima presented plans for the country's third cellulosic-ethanol pilot plant. This plant would make biofuel from next-generation feedstocks, such as grasses, wood chips and agricultural waste. He envisioned a facility where any qualified scientist with the goal of converting agricultural waste to ethanol could conduct experiments with the facility's equipment, lab space and personnel. Lima hoped that an open collaboration might hasten development of this technology. 

The Campinas pilot plant, a federally sponsored project, might indicate a shift in Brazil's plans for its ethanol industry. Until a recent surge in funding, the country has devoted few resources to technologies for cellulosic ethanol—even though Brazilian government officials have said that they want Brazil to lead the international biofuel market. To do that sustainably, however, the country must make the switch to cellulosic feedstocks.

Brazil has already built what is arguably the most-developed ethanol market in the world. The country meets more than half of its gasoline needs with ethanol and in 2008 exported a record 5.16 billion liters—up 46 percent over 2007. In addition more than 33,000 filling stations pump pure ethanol fuel, called E100.

Nearly all of this fuel comes from sugarcane, a first-generation crop. Only about a third of the sugarcane plant—the sucrose part—is used to make ethanol. The rest—the leaves and residue, called bagasse—is tough to break down, so it is usually converted inefficiently for power, or wasted. Figuring out a way to break down this cellulosic biomass is the key to producing more ethanol without planting more sugarcane.

The technology to make cellulosic ethanol in an economic way doesn't exist, but scientists worldwide are working on it. The U.S. Department of Energy in 2007 committed $1 billion to next-generation biofuel projects, and in February 2009 the U.S. stimulus bill promised the field up to $1.3 billion in research grants and loan guarantees. The Chinese central government in 2007 committed $5 billion over 10 years to ethanol development with a focus on cellulosic technologies.

Brazil's recent interest in the technology is starting to show. Dedini S/A and the Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira in Piracicaba, São Paolo, built a 5,000 liter-per-day pilot plant producing cellulosic ethanol with an acid-hydrolysis technology. Petrobras, an oil refiner, built a small reactor for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic feedstocks. And two years ago Embrapa, a research corporation, created a division focused on finding enzymes and microorganisms involved in converting such feedstocks. The group is planning to build a pilot plant by July 2010.

The Campinas project is part of the Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol, and will receive $25 million per year in government funding. Lima expects construction to be completed by early 2011. By then, he will have hired 160 employees and will focus largely on enzymatic hydrolysis of bagasse. "I have accepted the invitation to direct the project because it seems to be a very serious proposition with important consequences to Brazil and to the planet," Lima says.


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