Biotech Updates

Guyana Commissions Its First Bio-ethanol Plant

September 4, 2013
News release: http://www.caribbeanpressreleases.com/articles/10159/1/Whitefox-Technologies-and-Green-Social-Bioethanol-commission-the-first-ethanol-dehydration-unit-for-Guyana/Page1.html

The President of Guyana has commissioned the country's first ever bio-ethanol plant that will serve as a cornerstone of the government's energy and transport policy, which includes moving towards a 10 percent ethanol blend.

The demonstration plant, expected to deliver 1,000 liters of ethanol per day, will use black strap molasses as a feedstock, which is essentially a waste stream, from Guyana Sugar's Albion Sugar factory. The plant was designed to produce an ethanol purity of 99.6 percent for fuel grade ethanol, although start-up purities reached more than 99.9 percent. The plant will produce two streams of pure ethanol and pure water which can be re-used with no further treatment needed.

The technology for the plant is supplied by Whitefox Technologies and Green Social Bioethanol. The project is partly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as part of its Climate Change Strategy that puts priority to biofuels. An IDB study found that locally produced biofuels could have a positive impact in Guyana.