Ineos, the world’s third largest chemical company, announced that it is aiming to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste in about two years.
Ineos said the technology has already proven at pilot plant scale using a simple
three-stage process. The waste is first superheated to produce gases.
Then, through a patented process, the gases are fed to naturally
occurring bacteria, which efficiently produce ethanol. Finally, the
ethanol is purified to make the fuel ready to be blended for use in
cars.
One ton of dry waste can be converted into about 100 gallons of
ethanol, which can either be blended with traditional fuels or replace
them altogether, to substantially reduce vehicle emissions, the company
said.Ineos Bio Ethanol releases up to 90% less net greenhouse gases than gasoline.
"We expect to announce the location of the first commercial plant
fairly shortly and we will aim to quickly roll out our technology
around the world. We plan to be producing commercial amounts of
bioethanol fuel for cars from waste within about two years," Peter Williams, CEO of Ineos Bio, said.
About Ineos Bio
Ineos Bio is a new Ineos business. It was created on July 1, 2008 to commercialise and license a thermo-chemical and bio-chemical technology for the production of biofuel, renewable power and chemical intermediates from a wide range of low-cost carbon materials. Its initial focus will be the commercialisation of second-generation bioethanol technology to serve the global renewable transport fuels market.
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