Verenium, marubeni to pool resources on new plant

Verenium Corp and Marubeni Corp yesterday said that pursuant to the terms of their joint-development agreement they were continuing to advance the commercialisation of cellulosic-ethanol projects utilising Verenium's proprietary technology in Asia with the opening of a 3-million-litre-a-year plant in Saraburi.

Verenium is a leader in the development and commercialisation of next-generation cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally friendly and renewable transportation fuel.

The plant in Thailand is co-located with a facility that will produce ethanol from sugarcane-derived sucrose, which is abundant in the region.

Bagasse, the biomass residue from the sugarcane plant, will be the primary source of feedstock for the cellulosic facility, which will be converted into ethanol using Verenium's technology.

Marubeni and Tsukishima Kikai have already incorporated Verenium's technology into BioEthanol Japan's 1.4 million-litre-a-year cellulosic-ethanol plant in Osaka, which utilises construction-wood waste as a feedstock.

"We are very excited to see a second cellulosic-ethanol facility move forward, as alternative, cost-competitive and environmentally sound fuel sources are critically needed in Asia," said Toshiya Nagata, ethanol manager of Marubeni's industrial-machinery department.

"We expect that our learning from the Osaka facility, coupled with Verenium's experience in the US, will help to make this plant a rapid commercial success as we look to broaden the footprint and opportunity for cellulosic ethanol in key markets across Asia."

Carlos Riva, president and CEO of Verenium, said he was pleased to see his company's proprietary cellulosic technology continue to serve as a template for the commercialisation of next-generation ethanol in Asia.

"As in the US, we believe cellulosic ethanol derived from non-food biomass is going to play a critical role in the global energy mix, and we look forward to further partnering with Marubeni, as we continue to advance additional strategic corporate-partnership opportunities to expand our technology's reach and potential around the globe."

Marubeni is one of the biggest trading houses in Japan, with headquarters in Tokyo and 115 overseas offices in 70 countries and areas. It has 11 sales divisions in businesses such as energy, chemicals, food and machinery, with consolidated net income reaching 147.2 billion yen (Bt47 billion) for the last fiscal year.

US-based Verenium also develops high-performance specialty enzymes for applications within the alternative-fuel, specialty-industrial-process and animal-nutrition and health markets.