Dec 16 2009
Cetrel and Novozymes announced that the two companies have signed an agreement to carry out research for the conversion of sugarcane waste into green energy. Cetrel is a leading supplier of environmental solutions for the manufacturing industry in Latin America and Novozymes is a leading global producer of industrial enzymes.
With expertise in biotechnology and waste-stream management, the two partners aim to help sugar and ethanol production plants in Brazil to convert sugarcane waste i.e. bagasse into biogas using enzymes. This biogas will be used to produce electricity for various production facilities and excess electricity, with the help of the electric grid, will be sold to the market.
Nei Silva, CEO of Cetrel, remarked that the company for the past few years has been making efforts to develop effective projects that would help in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. Since its commencement 30 years ago, Cetrel has been maintaining an environmental balance within the industrial process. Silva further commented that the company is indeed very much pleased to share this knowledge with Novozymes, which will further enhance the technologies of Cetrel.
Thomas Videbak, Executive Vice President of Novozymes, remarked that Novozymes agreed to work with Cetrel in order to accomplish the company’s goal of developing a biobased society through the conversion of waste and agricultural residues into chemicals, energy and other kinds of materials.
As an abundant source of energy for Brazil, sugarcane bagasse is estimated to meet 20 percent of energy consumption in Brazil by the year 2020. Silva remarked that Cetrel chose Brazil as its target for research because of the abundant wealth of sugarcane in Brazil. The partnership between Cetrel and Novozymes is still in its initial development stage and the technology will experience further commercial growth based on the success of this partnership.