Novozymes sees hope in China's advanced biofuel industry

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): Novozymes, the world leader in bioinnovation and industrial enzymes, is seeing initiatives from the Chinese government, industry, and partners who are combining forces to boost China’s advanced biofuel industry.

Novozymes feels confident that innovation, partnerships, and sustainable development are the keys to spurring the biofuel industry even further in China. Novozymes is seeing efforts from the Chinese government, technology recognition from industry, and synergy with partners, who are combining forces to boost China’s advanced biofuel industry.

Given China’s ambitious national targets and policy initiatives, both biotechnology and new energy are listed as ’strategic emerging industries’ in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and has set a target for renewable energy consumption of 11.4% by 2015.

Nearly 1,400 experts from 40 countries met in Boao, China, from April 14 to 16 for the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2011 (BFA). Inaugurated in 2001, BFA has been recognized as the most prestigious and premier forum for leaders in government, business, and academia in Asia.

Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony, declaring that China will be further implementing the basic state policy of resource conservation and environmental protection, embarking on a path of sustainable development to raise energy efficiency, cut the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions, and develop a circular economy.

"The majority of the growth we are seeing in Asia is clearly coming from China" said Michael Christiansen, President of Novozymes China, in an interview, adding that this showcases the Chinese government’s commitment to turning “green” and presents great opportunities for sustainable industries such as advanced biofuels.

Novozymes, the world’s largest industrial enzyme producer, is not only a highly reliable partner in spurring advanced biofuels, but also an advocate of sustainable development with industry front-runners.

In China, as part of a memorandum of understanding reached by the Novozymes–COFCO–Sinopec partnership in 2010 covering the next steps toward commercialization of advanced biofuel in China, an advanced ethanol demonstration plant is to be built in 2011 by COFCO and Sinopec, for which Novozymes will supply the commercially viable enzymes for generating biofuels from agricultural waste.

"Right now it is a 500-ton pilot plant and our partners COFCO and Sinopec will move it to the next step and expand to a demonstration plant with a capacity of 3 million gallons of bioethanol made from corn stover per year at the end of this year" says Michael Christiansen. “We are very much looking forward to continued cooperation with existing partners and more dialogue with governments on advanced biofuels in Asia bridging the gap between technology, policy, and business by integrating our efforts to achieve coordinated development.”