DuPont announced a licensing deal with Jilin Province New Tianlong Industry Co. Ltd. (NTL) for the use of DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol technology and its Accelerase enzymes for the production of renewable biofuel from leftover biomass on Jilin Province’s corn farms. This project aims to develop China’s largest cellulosic ethanol manufacturing plant to be located in Siping City, Jilin Province, with the expectation to produce liquid biofuels exceeding 1.7 billion gallons/year by 2020.
NTL is working to secure the necessary government approvals and support to implement the deal. NTL, founded in 1988 and acquired by Ginsber Beer Group in 2003, is reportedly one of the largest corn refiner in northeast China producing and selling potable alcohol, chemical reagents (ethyl alcohol), corn oil, etc.
This news came to mind LanzaTech’s recent announcement of a commercial ethanol facility investment in China with China Steel Corporation using steel mill off gases for raw material. Last year, M&G has formed a JV with Anhui Guozhen to build a cellulosic biorefinery that will produce ethanol, glycols and byproducts such as lignin in Fuyang City (Anhui Province).
