Production

General

Bio refinery

Processes

General

Weak and Strong acids and Enzyme process
At Domsjö i Örnsköldsvik, 13,000 cubic metres of sugar-based ethanol is manufactured from sulphite pulp and treated with lye. The quantity can be compared to that of Brazil that produces 10,000,000 cubic metres from sugar cane and USA that produces 6,000,000 cubic metres from corn and wheat. Within a period of 25 years the Americans expect to produce 40 million cubic metres.
Agro-ethanol has built a factory at Norrköping that produce 50,000 cubic metres of ethanol from corn . The factory will also produce animal fodder and starch.

Sinking prices
If production were extensive, prices would be more competitive. According to the American Energy Department, the production cost for one litre of cellulose-based ethanol was 2.60 kr/litre in USA in 2000. The cost of the required raw material would then be 90 öre. By the year 2030 the production cost is expected to be as low as 1.08 kr/litre, without a change in the price of the raw material. This would be the result of increased efficiency and cost-effective processing.
According to Swedish raw material costs, the price would lie between 3 and 4 kr/litre. On a long-term perspective, cellulose based ethanol would be in the lower intervals in a functioning bio-energy reserve.