• A CO2-neutral substitute for petrol
• A solid biofuel for power stations
• Animal feed with high nutritional value

DONG Energy is establishing a strong presence in the biomass refinery business by developing a technology for producing second-generation bioethanol, which is an eco-friendly petrol substitute for the future. For this purpose DONG Energy has established a technology company, Inbicon.

Bioethanol - a CO2-neutral fuel
Bioethanol is classified as CO2-neutral because the amount of CO2 emitted by a vehicle running on bioethanol is equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed by the plants used for the bioethanol while growing. This balances the CO2 account.

Preserving global food reserves
Second-generation bioethanol is produced from waste products from agriculture and forestry, such as straw. The production of second-generation bioethanol consequently does not have an adverse effect on global food reserves or prices. 

The Inbicon Core Technology
The Inbicon process is a new, proven process for converting lignocellulosic biomass, like straw, into bioethanol. Our demonstration plant at Kalundborg in Denmark features the Inbicon Core Technology. In the Inbicon process biomass is converted using only steam and enzymes. The process is energy efficient due to the very high dry matter content in all process steps, and integrated energy solutions.

Products of the Inbicon process: bioethanol, solid biofuel and C5 molasses
We begin the second-generation bioethanol production process by cutting biomass, such as straw, into small pieces and conditioning it using a proprietary method. The next step in the Inbicon process is the hydrothermal pre-treatment during which the biomass is pressure-cooked to open the protective lignin structure and make the cellulose available for enzymes.

During the subsequent process, we add the enzymes developed for this purpose, which convert the cellulose molecules into sugar. It is precisely this sugar that becomes bioethanol at a later stage in the process. During fermentation yeast is added to convert the sugar into ethanol. After fermentation ethanol is distilled. The distillation process leaves two useful products: a solid biofuel and C5 molasses.

CO2-neutral fuel and C5 molasses
The solid biofuel, consisting of lignin bio pellets, can be used as a CO2-neutral fuel in power stations. The C5 molasses syrup is suitable for animal feed and can be used as part substitute for the soy that is currently used. Tests have shown our C5 molasses to have a high nutritional value for livestock similar to that of sugar beet and sugar cane molasses when used as livestock feed.