Switzerland-headed sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company Clariant AG has announced the official completion of its "sunliquid" cellulosic ethanol plant in Podari, Romania. The completed construction marks an important next step for the commercial deployment of Clariant's sunliquid technology and supports the company's licensing business strategy.
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The Podari facility will be operational in the fourth quarter, producing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues such as cereal straw.
Biofuels and biochemicals produced from agricultural residues play a key role in reducing our carbon footprint. This investment and the successful commercialization of this new technology represents a major milestone for Clariant and is a further proof point for our ambitious growth strategy, led by innovations that contribute to a more sustainable world, said Conrad Keijzer, CEO at Clariant.
According to Clariant, the investment also brings substantial economic benefits to the region. By locally sourcing feedstock, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction can be maximized.
Furthermore, additional business opportunities will arise along the regional value chain. Co-products produced by the process such as lignin will be used for renewable heat and power generation, making the plant independent of fossil energy sources.
Therefore, the resulting cellulosic ethanol is an almost carbon neutral second-generation biofuel. Besides application as a drop-in solution for fuel blending, this offers further downstream application opportunities into bio-based chemicals and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology.
It is encouraging to see how far we have come since the start of the development of our sunliquid technology in 2006. The technology was successfully implemented in our pre-commercial plant in 2012 and five sunliquid technology licenses have been sold in both Europe and China since then. This milestone in Romania underlines our commitment to building a more sustainable future, added Christian Librera, Clariant’s Head of Business Line Biofuels and Derivatives.
