Shell to invest in 2nd-generation ethanol

18 March 2008 20:20  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Royal Dutch Shell plans to invest in second-generation ethanol production in Brazil, a company source said on Tuesday, confirming a report in Sao Paulo's Gazeta Mercantil.

The report said that Shell is talking with Brazilian ethanol producers and is also investing in research in partnership with Sao Paulo’s Unicamp university, according to the Dow Jones newswire, which quoted Gazeta Mercantil as its source.

“The project exists, and the focus will be on cellulosic ethanol,” the Shell official said, adding that the company does not plan to pursue sugarcane-based, or first-generation, production of the biofuel.

Brazil is the world’s second-largest ethanol producer, after the US, but the leading exporter of the biofuel.

Brazil uses sugarcane to make ethanol, whereas in the US production of the biofuel is corn-based.

For more on ethanol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels

By: William Lemos
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