Myriant to build bio-based succinic acid plant in Louisiana

28 December 2010 22:06  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Myriant Technologies plans to begin construction early next year in Louisiana of what it described as the world’s largest bio-based succinic acid plant, the company said on Tuesday.

When operational in 2012, the project would use sorghum and carbon dioxide to produce up to 30m lbs/year (13,612 tonnes/year) of succinic acid, Myriant said.

The plant would be constructed at the Port of Lake Providence.

“Succinic acid is traditionally produced from petroleum-based feedstocks and used in a wide variety of applications, including the production of polymers, fibres, surfactants, detergents and flavours,” the company and the office of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said in a joint press release.

Bio-based succinic acid can be substituted for the petroleum-based version, the company said.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $50m (€38m) for the project, which would also benefit from port funding by the state and from a state tax and payroll rebate programme, according to the governor’s office.

The project would create 176 direct and indirect jobs, according to the governor’s office.

($1 = €0.76)

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