The $2.3m bioethanol project is being funded by Ecopetrol. This project has a period of around 18 months, according to Green Car Congress.
The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between NREL and Ecopetrol is expected to optimize the conversion process for bagasse and to assess the economic case for commercial production of biofuel from these materials.
In addition, the CRADA will include a limited study on palm rachis — the material left over after palm oil production.
NREL National Bioenergy Center Biochemical Conversion manager Rick Elander said that Ecopetrol already has a commercial facility for converting sugarcane juice into fuel-grade ethanol.
"The fermentation and distillation equipment at that facility could also be used to hydrolyze the bagasse and ferment the resulting sugar into additional ethanol, increasing the output of the facility and enabling year-round operations. It would only have to add the pretreatment process and tweak the "knobs and dials" to optimize the operation," added Elander.
