Houston hubris and President Dubya visits Novozyme

Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ (CERA) recently held their annual Executive Conference in Houston last week - it is the Energy Industries annual shindig where the big beasts meet 'n' greet and make pompous speeches . This year's beanfest (the 25th since founding by Daniel Yergin) was entitled “The New Prize: Energy’s Next Era.” . CERA are owned by IHS Energy and wired into the Rockefeller inspired and funded Council on Foreign Relations.

Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell spoke on February 8th, and amidst the self congratulation a few remarks stood out.

He outlined the back of the envelope figures that should make anyone pause for a while before deciding what to do about global warming / climate change / emissions trading .

The Department of Energy estimates that the global demand for energy may increase by as much as 50 % by 2025, with more than half of that growth coming from the world’s emerging economies.

Specifically regarding electricity, the growth is projected to be particularly steep; increasing nearly 75 % over the next two decades.

Sell returned, as ever, to the fundamental belief of the American nation in the superiority of their technology and the great enabling power of US led technology and innovation.

To compete in the increasingly global economy, we know what we must do – and that begins, first and foremost, with the building blocks of technical innovation: math and science.

Craig Barrett, the Chairman of Intel, has said, “U.S. technological leadership, innovation, and the jobs of tomorrow require a commitment to basic research funding today.”

He went on to describe the American Competitiveness Initiative, a program that the President seeks to reinvigorate our math and science base to lead "the discoveries of tomorrow."

Over the next ten years, the combined budgets of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology will exceed $50 billion in new research funding, a doubling of those budgets over the next ten years.

...and you can be sure there will be a long queue of people knocking on their doors for research dollars. Lord Patel listened this summer as Purdue scientists argued for a further genetic research into the genome of Populus species (Cottonwood trees) to grow bigger, faster and better.... with a payoff maybe in 50 years.

Yet the President last week called by the Danish company Novozyme's offices in Franklinton North Carolina (Pop.2,500) who have the only workable process enzymes for biomass breakdown.Now in use in Spain and China - (for details search this site for Novozyme.)

The improbably named Garrett Screws of Novozyme says after Bush's State of the Union promise to help wean America from oil it made perfect sense for him to visit them ..... and pretty remarkable.

The Department of Energy estimates that the global demand for energy may increase by as much as 50 % by 2025, with more than half of that growth coming from the world’s emerging economies.

Specifically regarding electricity, the growth is projected to be particularly steep; increasing nearly 75 % over the next two decades.

There's a lot of catching up to do after spending wasting all that money on armaments for so many years.

Novozymes / Abegnoa - Biofuels market expanding worldwide

Lord Patel has frequently directed his readers to the premier position that Novozymes (and Abegnoa) have in supplying essential enzymes for preparation of biomass feedstocks for fermentation to produce ethanol for fuel for internal combustion engines either raw or mixed with mineral based fuels.

Novozyme shares (NZYM B and the ID code/ISIN DK0010272129) quoted in Copenhagen jumped 20 DKK nearly 5% today on release of Q1 2006 figures which show ;

1. Sales rose by 11% ,Operating profit rose by 14% and operating profit margin was up to 19.2%, compared with 18.6% in 2005

2. Earnings per share (diluted) rose by 5% to DKK 2.97.

Readers are encouraged to read a helpful essay on their website about bio-fuels and Novozymes role as a major supplier to world wide growth in producing so called bio-fuels by Larry Peckous, a principal scientist in Customer Solutions at Novozymes in Franklinton, USA.

"Where will fuel ethanol plants pop up next?"

Briefly ;

Europe

Whilst maize (corn) is a the most widely used ethanol feedstock in the USA, in Europe other traditional grains are used and Novozyme have produced Viscozyme® Wheat, Viscozyme Barley and Viscozyme Rye for more Euro specific cereals.

The EU has set targets of 5.75% of energy consumption in the transport sector by 2010 and 20% by 2020. Sweden, Germany, France and Spain are among the European countries that have come furthest towards meeting the targets.

10 fuel ethanol plants where enzymes are used in the process are in production , 7 use wheat, 2 use rye and 1 uses barley. Many large-scale dedicated fuel ethanol plants planned or under construction, which takes some 18 months.

The major player and bio-fuel pioneer is Abengoa, a Spanish company will operate the first plant (180 MN Euro investment) using maize (plus wine alcohol) is under construction (May '06) at Lacq in the south of France capable of producing 200,000 tons of fuel ethanol per year by 2008. The French Government having awarded an overall tax relief on 100,000 tons. Abengoa Bioenergy own 56 % of the operators AB Bioenergy France and the remaining shares are held by Aquitaine Industrie Innovations, Euralis, Etablissements Lacadée, Lur Berri, Maïsadour, Vivadour and Agpm.

Abengoa S.A. is a listed company based in Seville ((ABG.MC) Euro 22.00 close today up from Euro 13.35 over last year = 65%), they have 3 bioethanol facilities in Spain - Ecocarburantes Españoles and Bioetanol Galicia, and Biocarburantes de Castilla y Leon - with an overall installed capacity of 550 million liters per year and export ethanol.

Abengoa Bioenergy is also the fifth largest ethanol producer in the United States with an installed capacity of 365 million liters. (i.e 1 Mn litres per day.) As starch to ethanol conversion efficiencies have improved, Abengoa have lead in the utilisation of soluble co-products (i.e high protein biomass wastes) as animal feedstock has also been improved so improving the unvestment return on installed plants.

Eastern Europe

Interest in biofuels is growing in Eastern Europe , there is a plant under construction in Slovakia. Projects are under consideration in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Ukraine, as well as in oil rich Kazakhstan and in Russia.

South Africa

Construction started on the first (of seven planned) maize based plant South Africa in May this year which will use surplus food capacity.... as millions starve in Zimbabwe.

Australia

Manildra are the largest ethanol producers with their Nowra plant in NSW using wheat and sorghum. two other Queensland plants in Queensalnd use Molasses from the sugar industry. Total production is an annual 90 million litres.

The Australian federal government’s target for 2010 is a production of 350 million litres. Four new plants are planned in Australia to process wheat and sorghum.

Manildra US produces industrial alcohols at its facility in Hamburg, IA. USA.

China

China leads Asia in etahnol production with an output of 3.8 billion litres in 2005 from 4 maize based plants and there are plans for rice straw biomass plants.

In June 2006, Novozymes announced a three-year cooperation agreement with CRAC (China Resources Alcohol Corporation) ( See Lord Patel's report ) to conduct research into developing this new technology based on the enzymatic conversion of cellulose.

Thailand

The fastest emerging market for fuel ethanol in Asia is Thailand. The Thai government’s goal is to use ethanol to replace the additive MTBE in gasoline.

The Gubment have a fuel excise tax exemption for ethanol and an income tax waiver for investors for the first eight years. Current plans are for 1 million litres of fuel ethanol per day in 2006 2011 target of 3 Mmn litres p, day) , their are 2 cassava root plants and 4 using using molasses. A third cassava plant will come in stream in December 2006.

Licences have been granted for building at least 14 plants using molasses and four new plants using cassava.

High gravity fermentation

There is increasing interest in so called high gravity fermentation. This technology allows less water to be used and as a result less energy is needed for cooling, heating and evaporation which means more compact, less costly plants. Where Novozyme have especial expertise)

Novozymes show big sales growth with rising profits

Danish company Novozyme are leaders in producing the enzymes required in bio-mass breakdown for producing bio-ethanol. However rising living standards in Asia and the growth of sales of washing machines means sales of detergent enzymes is a fast growing market as well. Detergent enzymes replace petrochemical ingredients which have increased in cost and enzymes are biodegradeable making them more envirnmentally and consumer friendly.

Novozymes was awarded a contract from the US National Renewable Energy lab (NREL) to reduce the cost of enzymes for cellulosic ethanol. In a 5 year period they succeeded in reducing costs significantly, to a position where enzyme costs are no longer a significant cost.

Compared with last year , worldwide, Q1 Sales grew by 18%, operating profit by 15%, and net profit for the period by 30%, with earnings per share rising by 34%.

During the year both the President of the United States and The Secretary of State Condileeza Rice have met with senior staff and visited plants in the USA.

For other postings on Novozyme go here

Low temperature washing - save money, save electricity , help the environment

A major route for domestic energy / electricity reduction is to lower the temperature at which wshing machines operate. The major Danish energy group DONG ( a recent name change from Københavns Energi ) claim consumption can be cut by 60% or approximately 10p per wash (DKK 1 EUR 0.13 cents or USD 0.20 cents) and they are active in promoting Care Koldtvandsvask .

Typically wash temperatures used in Europe are 60°C (140°F) with some machines offering a "low temperature" wash at 40°C (104°F).

Danlind is a Danish detergent producer based in Holstebro, where its main products are private-label detergents for laundry and dishwashing.

Danlind produces about 30,000 tons of detergent a year, mainly for export. This makes it a small player in the European detergent market. Over the last two years they have developed a new product which they say will make a major difference to the market and the way we all do our washing... and cut fuel bills.

Development started in when R&D / Lab Chief Henrik Jørgensen went to a 2002 confer­ence on detergents. A representative from the swish chemical company Ciba gave atalk about one of its mild bleach catalysts suitable for low temperatures. By 2005 he was testing using Ciba’s ActinOx,® which he was testing with Danish enzyme manufacturer, Novozyme's Stainzyme,® a new detergent amylase for low temperatures. That year Novozymes also launched a low-temperature protease called Polarzyme.®

A low temperature detergent needs 4 components to work, bleach, enzymes and surfactants - as well as a builder - they had to find one that worked at suitable temperatures and this was supplied by German company Bayer, so Lind had a unique system. There was a bonus, too, because this system was less aggressive than normal builders and the enzymatic perform­ance improved.

Lind's final product which they call Care Coldwash contains four different en­zymes from Novozymes: Stainzyme 12 T, Polarzyme 12 T, Lipex® 100 T, and Celluzyme® 0.7 T. They represent 3% by weight, twice that of typical care detergents.

Finally Lind looked for a surfactant at the Japanese who tyraditionally use cold washes - finally they chose a unique and confidential blend of three surfactants , both anionic and non-ionic.

The US domestic mite Dermatophagoides farinae (in Europe D. pteronyssinus) which lives on human skin flakes is remarkably resistant to washing and 40 and 60% of the mites can resist washing, rinsing, spinning and drying. Control by low temperature washing is possible with a mite control additive provided that a concentration of benzyl benzoate ( a commonly used ectoparasiticide) of about 0.03% is achieved in the washing suds. It is assumed this is also a component and it must be identified under EU detergent regulations that cam into effect on October 8th 2005 see guide (pdf alert) from the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products.

Note if you look at your detergent ingredients benzyl benzoate is usually disguised as benzoic acid benzyl ester, benzoic acid phenylmethyl ester or in Persil non-bio as benzisothiazolinone.

Wash results

Research by Lind was funded both by Dong but also the Danish Technical Institute which incorporated the National Consumer Agency's test laboratory.

To calculate the benefits they discovered the average Danish family generated 600Kg of textiles for washing done in 270 wash loads 5 per week.

Changing 60°C (140°F) and 40°C (104°F) washes to 30°C (86°F) and 20°C (68°F) washes respectively gives an annual electricity consumption of 130 kWh with a saving of 95 kWh.



In Denmark, a 900 g pack of Care Coldwash retails at around DKK 28 (about EUR 3.76 or USD 5.05 £2.50 ) and is enough for 12 washes. If a consumer can save around DKK 1 per wash in electricity, the savings amount to DKK 12 (about EUR 1.61 or USD 2.16 £1.10 ) per pack. ( and it saves på 120 kg. CO2 pr år if you believe all that bollocks)

Dansk Supermarked A/S sell it under their own label and they own the discount superstore Netto with the irritating TV advertising who have 106 stores in the UK .

Herman Salling is the CEO of Dansk Supermarked founded in 1902 by his dad Fernand - this is what he says about action in busines -

"... life has taught me always to set deadlines for decisions.
Otherwise the discussions can go on for years. They lead nowhere.
But if a deadline is set, something will happen"

Herman Salling he also said about decisions:

"Once a decision has been made, it must be implemented quickly"

Chinese swoop and buy up cellulosic ethanol technology that Uncle Sam funded

sstklFascinating news after the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ended.

On Friday , Sunopta (NASDAQ:STKL) (TSX:SOY) announced officially that it has signed a contract to sell a cellulosic ethanol pilot demonstration facility, which is based on SunOpta's patented and proprietary biomass conversion technology, to China Resources Alcohol Corporation (CRAC) for research and development on cellulosic ethanol production at their facility in ZhaoDong City, Heilongjiang Province.

Based upon completion of final details, the companies anticipate that this cellulosic ethanol research facility will start up in late 2006.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. As part of the transaction, SunOpta and CRAC intend to enter into a Joint Development Agreement between SunOpta, CRAC and Novozymes for the development of cellulosic ethanol in the People's Republic of China.

The Chinese central government recently announced a $5.0 Billion US capital investment over the next 10 years on ethanol capacity expansion with a focus on cellulosic ethanol. They launched their industrial scale ethanol production only 5 years ago, but are evidently putting a great deal of resource into this technology.

STKL currently trades at $8.73, up $0.63 from the previous close, on 835,369 shares.

The Chinese are no doubt somewhat relieved to be able to buy into this technology which Uncle Sam has been funding with the aid of EU and Canadian companies. Where this leaves the further development in the US is somewhat unclear - evidently the thrust of Novozymes efforts and the now wholly owned CRAC process will reside in China.

The Spanish project will of course still go ahead, presumably with some co-ordination with CRAC.

Neither Novozyme or Sunopta have any comments on their websites.

Watch this space!

Dubya's cellulosic ethanol nearer than you think

22nd Annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW) June 20-23, 2006 Midwest Airlines Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA. Is an increasingly important forum for u nderstanding the development of biomass fuel technology.

The FEW Program is developed by a committee of current and future ethanol producers.

Program topics will have a strong focus on commercial-scale ethanol production, new technology, and near-term research and development. Over 80 companies are exhibiting, one Gold Sponsor is the Danish Compant Novozymes. Leaders in production of industrial enzymes.

They have a fascinating tale to tell of their work on converting cellulosic material which Dubya referred to in his speech earlier this year in future fuel technologies. "The Administration will accelerate research in cutting-edge methods of producing "cellulosic ethanol" with the goal of making the use of such ethanol practical and competitive within 6 years." President Bush announced the creation of an Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) that calls for reducing oil imports from the Middle East by 75 percent by the year 2025.

In January 2001, supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Novozymes ( a Dansih Company and world's largest enzyme supplier) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) entered into a collaborative research subcontract totalling USD 14.8 million over three years, with a one-year extension worth USD 2.3 million granted in April 2004.

The project sought to dramatically cut the cost of converting cellulose biomass from corn stover into sugars for the production of fuel ethanol and other valuable products. Once commercially viable, a process of this type could help reduce deendency on non-renewable and petroleum-based energy and raw material sources.

As a result, Novozymes have dramatically cut the cost for the process of converting corn stover to ethanol to USD 0.10-0.18 per gallon in laboratory trials. This 30-fold reduction from the starting point of more than USD 5 dollars per gallon in 2001 is due to a combination of pre-treatment technology developed by NREL and novel enzyme solutions from Novozymes. (Current sale price of US preoduced ethanol is US$2.85)

"Novozymes has made great progress in reducing the cost of enzymes for the utilisation of cellulosic biomass, effectively eliminating a major technical barrier to commercialisation. By combining NREL improvements to the pre-treatment of corn stover with new enzymes developed by Novozymes, the cost reduction achieved provides an excellent example of the synergy that can be harvested through well-placed government-sponsored research partnerships. While much work remains to translate this success to the commercial marketplace, Novozymes should be applauded for their fine efforts in this collaboration," said

Douglas E. Kaempf, Biomass Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy says , ""Novozymes has made great progress in reducing the cost of enzymes for the utilisation of cellulosic biomass, effectively eliminating a major technical barrier to commercialisation"

The work also opens up other opportunities, for example corn stover may in future be used as a feedstock for products currently derived from petrochemicals.

Successful commercialisation of the biomass-based process for production of fuel ethanol and other useful products still depends on further refinements of the enzyme technology, establishment of a formal collection system for biomass, further progress in overcoming the technical barriers in biomass pre-treatment, optimisation of current yeast organisms, as well as financial incentives for industry to invest in facilities utilising biomass instead of corn starch as feedstock.

Wheat and barley are the main cereals used in Europe for processing into fuel ethanol. They contain viscous hemicelluloses such as beta-glucans. When wheat or barley flour is mixed with water, it becomes viscous even before the starch has been gelatinized. This slurry may be almost impossible to pump through a pipe. Apart from the classical liquefaction and saccharification enzymes used for converting starch into fermentable sugars, specific enzymes are required to reduce viscosity and facilitate the operation.

"In Europe, we are currently focusing on making specific enzyme blends that will be ideal for different cereals," says Lionel Picart of Novozyme. Wheat and barley are the main cereals used in Europe for processing into fuel ethanol. They contain viscous hemicelluloses such as beta-glucans. When wheat or barley flour is mixed with water, it becomes viscous even before the starch has been gelatinized. This slurry may be almost impossible to pump through a pipe. Apart from the classical liquefaction and saccharification enzymes used for converting starch into fermentable sugars, specific enzymes are required to reduce viscosity and facilitate the operation."We already have enzymes such as cellulases, beta-glucanases and xylanases. Now we are formulating them into efficient and cost-effective products for customers." says Picart.

Gerson Santos, R&D Director at Abengoa Bioenergy, St. Louis Miss. said, "These new enzyme systems are the key to the future growth and geographical expansion of the fuel ethanol industry into areas where cereals are not readily available. In 2006, we expect to initiate testing of Novozymes' enzymes solutions at our biomass fractionation process development pilot plant in York, Nebraska, USA to validate the technology's performance.

As one of the biggest ethanol producers in Europe and the USA (fifth largest producer in the United States with an installed capacity of 365 million liters.), Abengoa Bioenergy is a subsidiary of Abengoa S.A., a company which is headquartered in Sevilla, Spain. Abengoa is a technological company that applies innovative solutions for sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It is present in over 70 countries where it operates through its five Business Units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technology, and Industrial Engineering and Construction and is committed to the development and commercialisation of biomass-based fuel ethanol production technology for a more sustainable transportation sector."

Abengoa Bioenergy is to demonstrate its biomass-to-ethanol process technology at the BCyL Cereal Ethanol Plant in Babilafuente (Salamanca), Spain. Commissioning is expected to start by the end of 2006; the Biomass Plant will process 70 tonnes of agricultural residues, such as wheat straw, each day and produce over 5 million liters of fuel grade ethanol per year. This will use the technology developed by Canadian company Sunopta Inc. ((NASDAQ: STKL / TSX: SOY) SunOpta Food Group, represents over 90% of annual revenues and is focused on the fast growing natural, organic and specialty foods markets. The SunOpta BioProcess Group represents approximately 1% of revenue and is focused on the processing of biomass for the production of ethanol and other bio-products. The Group has commercially proven proprietary technology with multiple patents on equipment and processes and claims world leadership in biomass conversion.

In January 2006 SunOpta shipped the Pretreatment System for the Abengoa Bioenergy Research and Development pilot plant to be built at the Abengoa corn starch to ethanol plant located at York, Nebraska. This pilot plant is funded by the US Department of Energy and will prove new advances in Biomass Conversion technologies utilizing the Pretreatment System from SunOpta Inc.

The commercial demonstration of the biomass to ethanol production technology marks an important milestone for the growth of Abengoa Bioenergy in ethanol production from renewable resources. The ultimate objective is to develop biomass ethanol technologies that are economically competitive with gasoline.

Other companies such as the Canadian Iogen are also involved in making ethanol from cellulose. Backed by Royal Dutch Shell, the company operates a small pilot plant in Ottawa and says it is exploring opening a commercial plant.

They have developed a different approach which can yield more than 340 litres per tonne of fibre. The lignin (woody fibre) in the plant fibre is also used to drive the process by generating steam and electricity, thus eliminating the need for fossil CO2 sources such as coal or natural gas.

Iogen have developed an efficient pretreatment method to increase the surface area and "accessibility" of the plant fibre to enzymes. This id done with a modified " steam explosion process", improving yield of ethanol, increasing pretreatment efficiency, and reducing overall costs.

Iogen also has new, highly potent and efficient cellulase enzyme systems tailored to the specific pretreated feedstock. Iogen already has a worldwide business experience making enzymes for the pulp and paper, textiles and animal feed industries from which this has developed. This also incorporates a novel multi-stage hydrolysis process.

Iogen then uses advanced microorganisms and fermentation systems that convert both C6 and C5 sugars into ethanol. The "beer" produced by fermentation is then distilled using conventional technology to produce cellulose ethanol for fuel grade applications.

It may not have escaped your notice that the companies at the leading edge of successful development in this process are ...er ... well not US companies.