Mitsui Engineering, Sime Darby to make ethanol from empty fruit bunches in Malaysia

(ADPnews) - Dec 28, 2010 - Japanese Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co (TYO:7003) said today that it and the research and development arm of Malaysian agricultural conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd (KUL:SIME) will jointly develop a demonstration plant in Malaysia to make bioethanol from empty fruit bunches.

Each day the facility will be able to process 1.25 tonnes of empty fruit bunches, which represent a waste product from palm oil production. The facility will use the biomass refinery technology of Danish Inbicon. In addition, the plant will collect operation data to verify bioethanol production technologies and processes.

Bioethanol made out of empty fruit bunches is a variety of second-generation biofuel produced from non-edible cellulosic biomass. According to Mitsui, Malaysia and Indonesia are the perfect locations for such a project, as the two countries account for 90% of all palm oil produced globally and so their mills generate 40 million tonnes of empty fruit bunches a year.

Mitsui and Sime Darby, which have worked together on the business scheme using empty fruit bunches since 2008, seek to commence commercial operations at the unit as soon as possible. The produced bioethanol will be used to blend with petrol (gasoline) or as a green material for the chemical sector.

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