New Danish plant turns straw into biofuel

KALUNDBORG, Denmark (Reuters) – A new plant in Denmark has begun converting straw into bioethanol for cars, pellets for biofuel-burning power plants and molasses for animal feed to avoid the carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

State oil, gas and power firm DONG Energy inaugurated the plant on Wednesday in time to serve as a showcase of Danish environmental technology before a U.N. climate conference in the Danish capital next month.

The plant run by DONG’s Inbicon unit in the coastal refinery town of Kalundborg will convert 30,000 tonnes of straw yearly to produce 5.4 million litres of bioethanol that can be mixed with gasoline to reduce CO2 emissions, the company said.

The first year’s production has been sold to Norway’s StatoilHydro which aims to sell the bioethanol at service stations in Denmark starting next year.

The plant will also produce 13,000 tonnes of pellets to burn at power plants as a substitute for coal and 11,000 tonnes of molasses for animal feed, the company said.

Reuters India