Ethanol from crops primed to be a cash cow for sugar firms
The big sugar companies have jumped on ethanol as the route to recover turnover lost when the EU reformed the sugar industry.
Many of them were very well-placed to become ethanol producers.
Everything seems to have fallen into place at Wanze, in the eastern province of Liège, in Belgium.
It cost CropEnergies €250m to build an ethanol plant beside the town’s sugar factory, but the location has a lot going for it.
The factory is on the banks of the river Meuse, and much of the raw material comes in, and the ethanol goes out, in river barges, all the way to Amsterdam, in Holland.
However, local availability of sugar beet and wheat are the main advantages for BioWanze, which has become the largest bio-ethanol plant in Belgium.
The Tiense sugar refinery beside it is the largest sugar producer in Belgium. Both the sugar refinery and CropEnergies are part of Südzucker, the largest sugar producer in Europe.
CropEnergies, with plants in Germany, Belgium and France, is one of the largest European bio-ethanol producers.
At Wanze, it aims to produce 300,000 cubic metres per year of bioethanol for Belgium and the export market.
More than 2,000 tonnes of wheat are taken in per day, but sugar beet provides about 20% of the raw material for ethanol.
Wheat is milled and processed, with bran, fibre, gluten, and starch milk extracted.
Leftover proteins, and other components of the wheat and sugar syrups, are condensed to produce a high-protein liquid feed for cattle and pigs.
With its biomass boiler fuelled by wheat bran, and markets for its by-products in the food and animal feed industries, Biowanze can claim to be nearly completely energy efficient.
Even the boiler’s ash residue can be sold as fertiliser, for its potash and phosphorous content.
There is profit efficiency, also. If the grain price shoots up, Biowanze is compensated by better prices for its gluten and animal feeds – or it can use more sugar beet, if grain gets too expensive.
These are valuable advantages, bearing in mind that its ethanol production is not subsidised by the EU. However, the petrol company which eventually uses the ethanol in its fuel does benefit from a tax saving – provided it gets the ethanol from a certified ‘green’ company. Biowanze is such a certified company, because it buys it raw materials locally, and is energy efficient.
Biowanze employs a permanent staff of 123 in round-the-clock production.
Officially opened in April, 2009, its future looks assured, with the EU raising its target to a 10% share of renewable energy for transport, and all member states required to get 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The carbon dioxide released when bioethanol is used as fuel was originally absorbed by the plants from which the ethanol is manufactured. So fuel crops are carbon dioxide-neutral – apart from the energy needed to extract bioethanol. As a result, factories like Biowanse reduce greenhouse gases by 70%, compared to fossil fuels.
They also help to secure local fuel supply, reducing dependence on imports.
Bioethanol is an important new industry for rural areas, contributing value added, jobs and tax revenues, and providing new market outlets for farmers.
Motorists benefit also, because bioethanol has a considerably higher octane rating than petrol, is virtually free of sulphur, and is biologically degradable.
A total of 81m cubic metres of bioethanol were produced around the world in 2008, and more than 80% of it was for transport fuel.
The world leader in production is the USA, followed by Brazil.
Stephen Cadogan visited Biowanze during the annual congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists in April.
