High-efficiency dual-crop ethanol production to begin in Portugal

High-efficiency dual-crop ethanol production to begin in Portugal 20 February, 2008 A novel system for
turning sugar cane and sweet sorghum into ethanol and bioenergy will be tested on a commercial scale in
Portugal this year.
Lisbon-based Global Green is investing a C90m ($132m) in a plant at Idanha-a-Nova, Castelo Branco, which it
claims will operate more efficiently than conventional biofuel production plants. It will produce up to
60,000t/year of ethanol and 20MW of energy, as well as biomass byproducts.
The firm is planting varieties of sugar cane and sweet sorghum that it has developed especially to be
resistant to frost and able to survive in Mediterranean countries. By using a combination of two crops, the
plant can operate for 11 months of the year - much longer than comparable plants in Brazil, said Global
Green's Ashok Hansraj.
"This is the first trial of ethanol production in Europe from sugar cane grown in Europe," he told the
Bioenergy Europe 2008 conference, organised by Environmental Finance Publications, in London on Tuesday.
Using two crops maintains some degree of biodiversity, he added. The firm is also researching the use of
other biomass such as jatropha, rapeseed and algae, and is looking to use the multi-crop process in other
countries, including the US and China.
If the costs of the raw materials and processing are split between the ethanol and energy, Hansraj estimated
that the ethanol could be produced for about C0.25/litre. "This will give farmers a huge opportunity for
profit," he said.
"Furthermore, we also have an innovative technology to generate much more green electric power from any
biomass, giving output returns about triple any other conventional biomass-based power generation,"
he claimed