Technip Energies and Clariant announced today that they have signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of Clariant’s sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology.

 

By choosing Technip Energies, sunliquid customers can benefit from combining Clariant’s proven technology with Technip Energies’ deep experience as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build advanced biofuel plants.

 

The sunliquid process converts agricultural residues, woody materials or municipal solid wastes into advanced biofuel. The bio-sourced feedstock is converted into cellulosic sugars, which is then fermented into cellulosic ethanol.

 

The process design is completely integrated and based upon proven process technology. The innovative technology involves enzymes that are produced as part of the process and tailored to respective raw materials to deliver the highest possible sugar yields.

 

End of 2021, Clariant completed the construction of its first full-scale commercial sunliquid cellulosic ethanol plant in Podari, Romania, which is currently started-up and will be fully operational in 2022. The plant will process approximately 250,000 tons of straw to produce 50,000 tons of cellulosic ethanol per annum.

 

The cellulosic ethanol produced by the sunliquid process can be used as a drop-in solution for fuel blending and offers further downstream application opportunities into sustainable aviation fuels and bio-based chemicals. In addition, it can be further processed into green ethylene and ethylene derivatives, and other sugar-derived chemicals using other proprietary technologies offered by Technip Energies.

 

Wei Cai, Chief Technology Officer of Technip Energies, stated: “We are very proud to extend our partnership with Clariant. sunliquid may be proposed in combination with other Technip Energies’ technologies in the biofuel and sustainable chemicals value chains enabling a full service offering to our clients. Together with Clariant, we provide a reliable model to accelerate the introduction of novel and sustainable technologies to the market. This alliance will bring our clients a sustainable technology and flexible project execution model.”

 

Christian Librera, Vice President & Head of Business Line Biofuels & Derivatives at Clariant commented, “Customer focus is a core theme of Clariant’s new purpose-led strategy. The cooperation with Technip Energies will enhance the service offerings we provide to our customers and thus will accelerate the sunliquid footprint with the ultimate aim of transitioning to an emission-free mobility.”