The Danish biotechnology company Novozymes A/S has said that it will work with Cetrel, one of South America's largest industrial waste-management companies, to turn sugar-cane waste into clean energy. The research partnership is aimed at helping Brazilian sugar and ethanol production plants turn bagasse – the leafy residue that remains after sugar juice is squeezed from cane – into biogas using enzymes, Annegrethe Jakobsen, a Novozymes spokeswoman in Denmark, told Climate Wire (subscription required) on Monday. The biogas could then be used to produce electricity on site. Novozymes executives said the Cetrel partnership is aligned with the Copenhagen-based company's vision to develop a “biobased society,” in which biorefineries convert agricultural residue into energy, chemicals and other materials, thereby substituting it for fossil fuels. Novozymes, the world's largest enzyme maker, produced about 250,000 tons of industrial enzymes last year; about 17 percent of them went to ethanol makers. The company has received more than $30 million in U.S. Department of Energy research grants since 2001 and is working with the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based ethanol company Poet LLC to develop enzymes that cost-effectively break down the tough, cellulosic plant fiber found in corncobs. “We expect the U.S. market will be the fastest market
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Danish and Brazilian Firms Team to Convert Sugar-Cane Waste Into Clean Energy
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