Ethanol from straw

Inbicon, Dong Energy’s bioethanol production subsidiary, has signed a deal with Statoil that will see it deliver the first five million litres of its second-generation bioethanol from its plant near Asnæs Power Station in Kalundborg, Denmark.

The plant, which is presently under construction, aims to demonstrate that second-generation bioethanol can be produced on an industrial scale using Inbicon’s technology. The Kalundborg plant will use straw as raw material to produce 5.4 million litres of bioethanol annually.

'Statoil is the first and so far only oil company to have been offering Danish motorists a petrol and bioethanol mix for three years in a row. We are showing our commitment yet again by concluding this contract to purchase the first second-generation bioethanol in Denmark,' said Pia Bach Henriksen, chief executive of Statoil.

Second-generation bioethanol is produced on the basis of residual products from agriculture and forestry unlike first-generation bioethanol, which is produced from products also used for food products such as maize, wheat and sugar beet.