Praj Industries has recently declared a breakthrough in scale up of its 2nd generation ethanol technology with successful completion and start-up of smart bio-refinery. India’s first integrated bio-refinery is built on the company’s proprietary platform technology – ‘enfinity’ for manufacturing ethanol from agri-waste.
Second generation demo plant can produce one MLPA of ethanol by processing a variety of agri-residue like rice and wheat straw, cotton stalk, bagasse, cane trash, corn cobs & stover, etc. into ethanol, with superior product yields. With continual research and development, further pipeline of other renewable fuels and chemicals is underway to be produced from this technology platform.
Mr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj Industries said: “Praj’s 2G demo plant is a testament of our technology leadership in the bio-energy space. This innovative technology has substantial potential to enhance energy security and help India become energy self-reliant. It uses abundantly available cellulosic biomass while effectively addressing the challenge of agricultural waste management and mitigating pollution. Commercialization of 2nd generation ethanol technology will give an impetus to rural economy and create additional employment opportunities.”
In India, an eco-system for 2nd generation ethanol is in the making to achieve the aspired 20% blend ratio. As a part of this drive, 10 to 12 Second generation ethanol projects are expected to be finalized, with average capex of around Rs 600Cr each. Each of these plants will have the capacity to produce 100,000 litre ethanol per day. Praj is at the forefront of this development and has already signed MoUs with IOCL and BPCL as their technology partner for certain project sites.