Second-Generation Bio-Fuel Offers Lucrative Opportunity For Landowners
July 16th, 2008
Chris Mole, Associate Editor
• Company seeks growers for salix.
• Bio-fuel refinery planned for 2009.
• Big economic opportunity for NZ.
NZ farmers have an opportunity to be at the forefront of the next generation of bio-fuels, with a Singapore-based company looking for growers of salix (a variety of willow) around Taupo. Pure Power says it will have salix cuttings ready for landowners to commence commercial energy farming of the shrubby plant in 2009. The idea is the new crops will provide a secure supply of lingo-cellulosic feedstock, from which Pure Power will produce second-generation bio-fuels and a range of bio-products for use in the manufacture of paints, resins, adhesives and bio-plastics. Ligno-cellulosic bio-fuels are a hot topic worldwide as the search intensifies for renewable sources of bio-fuel that can replace fossil fuels without hurting world food supplies.
Pure Power says after four years of trialling salix, it is now ready to offer cuttings that will allow farmers to plant up to 500ha in 2009 and 1000ha in 2010, doubling each year thereafter. The company now has 37ha of Salix in nursery plantations at various stages of development. Pure Power gained its lingo-cellulosic capability when it acquired NZ company BioJoule, a subsidiary of Genesis Research & Development in December 2007, including the expertise of top scientist Dr Jim Watson. Dr Watson is heading a new “Brains Trust” in ligno-cellulose, set up by Pure Power to focus on commercial applications for its unique process. Dr Watson believes NZ has an opportunity to become a world leader in second-generation bio-fuel production to the point where it becomes a primary industry. He explains Pure Power’s technology is different from most others, which destroy lignin in the process of isolating celluloses and hemicelluloses and fermenting them into bio-ethanol.
Pure Power’s unique process preserves and recovers the lignin, converting the biomass into three product streams: bio-ethanol, xylose and natural lignin. Dr Watson explains Pure Power’s strategy is to seek out specialty energy crops, which grow well on marginal land without consuming large quantities of fertiliser and can be easily processed. The company is planning to build a pilot plant in Asia by mid-2009, and hopes to open its first bio-fuel refinery at the end of 2009. It is eventually looking to build up to 20 refineries. Pure Power has launched a new publication, Energy Farming with Willow, as a guide for farmers and foresters, in partnership with the Lake Taupo Development Company, the Govt’s Sustainable Farming Fund, HortResearch and Scion.
Dr Watson stresses there is no single bio-fuel feedstock that is optimal for every region. Salix is an ideal feedstock for temperate climates in terms of land utilisation, economic returns and environmental impact. But sugar cane and oil palm have natural advantages in tropical climates and will be the dominant bio-fuel feedstocks in those regions for the next decade.
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