Highlights

• NewEnergyBlue has acquired Inbicon biomass conversion technology from Ørsted.
• NewEnergyBlue’s biomass refineries use agricultural waste like corn stalks, wheat straw and sugar bagasse to replace fossil fuels and chemicals with renewable alternatives to meet sustainability goals.

NewEnergyBlue, a clean-tech biomass refinery developer, has acquired Inbicon biomass conversion technology from Denmark-based renewable energy company Ørsted.

This acquisition expands NewEnergyBlue’s global operations and gets the ownership of Inbicon’s international patent portfolio and global licensing, beyond the previous agreement, which was limited to the Americas.

“Corn stalks from America, wheat straw from Canada and Europe, sugar bagasse in Brazil and India—all over the world, billions of tons of botanical waste are left behind after annual harvests,” says Albury Fleitas, President of NewEnergyBlue. “And on the horizon, perennial grasses grown in the planet’s expanding arid regions where food crops no longer thrive. They’re all ideal feedstocks for our biomass refineries, more opportunities than ever to replace fossil fuels and chemicals with next-generation renewables.”

NewEnergyBlue’s biomass refinery uses Inbicon biotechnology to optimise thermodynamics and control chemistry without harsh additives. One of the by-products is clean water. This design meets global environmental and sustainability regulations, which are key to meeting this decade’s targets.

Inbicon technology was developed in Denmark 25 years ago. In 2009 the first Inbicon biomass refinery was launched in Kalundborg, Denmark processing wheat straw and proving the commercial viability of 2G ethanol for reducing carbon emissions in auto and aviation fuels.

The New Energy Freedom biomass refinery is expected to open in 2026 in Mason City, Iowa and will convert corn stalks into 2G bioethanol and clean lignin per year. The bioethanol will go to low-carbon auto-fuel markets with potential downstream applications in sustainable plastic production for Dow Chemical.

Clean lignin has value for polymer and binder production and can replace oil-based products in manufacturing and road surfacing.

The bioconversion technology has attracted interest from international companies and researchers who want to scale up their technology using the commercial sugar and lignin streams from the refineries. After the initial phase, a biomass tech campus will be established at the Freedom site.

“We’re doing our part to take the fossil out of fuels, the oil out of plastics, and the heat out of the atmosphere,” says Fleitas. “And we’re aligning ourselves with international partners who demonstrate the financial heft, nimbleness, and foresight to get the job done.”

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Source: NewEnergyBlue