La empresa finlandesa St1 inaugura una planta de etanol a partir de residuos en Gotemburgo

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St1 Biofuels Oy, empresa finlandesa del sector de la energía, inauguraba el pasado 5 de junio una planta de etanol a partir de residuos basada en su concepto Etanolix®. La planta construida para North European Bio Tech Oy (NEB) recicla residuos orgánicos y de procesos procedentes de panaderías locales y pan caducado de tiendas en etanol para combustible. La planta de etanol está completamente integrada con las funciones y la logística de la refinería de petróleo de St1 en Gotemburgo y tiene una capacidad de producción de 5 millones de litros de bioetanol avanzado. Dicha producción se entregará a North European Oil Trade Oy (NEOT). NEOT es una empresa hermana de NEB y el proveedor de combustible independiente más importante de la región del Mar Báltico.

Figura 1. Planta de etanol a partir de residuos Ethanolix en Gotemburgo (extraída de www.St1.eu)

El proyecto de Gotemburgo fue seleccionado para el programa Life+ de la Comisión Europea, que proporciona financiación a propuestas relacionadas con energía, clima, gestión ambiental y de residuos,… Es el primero en que una planta de producción es construida e integrada con una refinería de petróleo existente para producir etanol basado en residuos de manera sostenible.

Esta no es la única noticia importante de St1 que ha salido a la luz en las últimas semanas. Recientemente, Novozymes anunciaba que sería el proveedor de la tecnología enzimática para una nueva biorrefinería que St1 construirá en Kajaani (Finlandia). La instalación estará localizada junto a un aserradero y será la primera en el mundo que usara serrín de coníferas como materia prima para producir etanol celulósico a escala comercial. La planta será construida y operada usando las tecnologías de pretratamiento y proceso conocidas como Cellunolix®. Con una capacidad anual de 10 millones de litros, la biorrefinería representa una inversión de cerca de 40 millones de euros. Se espera que la construcción comience en la segunda mitad de 2015 y que la producción comience en 2016.

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