Biorefinery
Replacing fossil fuels, being depleted and becoming ever more expensive, is regarded as one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century, and so is the increasingly negative impact of human activity on the climactic balance of our planet.
Today it is not only the demands of the green movements but also the strategic planning of responsible governments that lay increased emphasis on the use of technologies based on renewable resources. The energy applications, the so-called biofuels using renewables, play a significant part, but even in the longer term they will be able to provide only a minor share in the consumption.
Increasing raw material and energy prices and the rapid development of biotechnology procedures collectively result in making the production of the so-called platform compounds by biotechnology means effectively compete with the “conventional” technologies relying on petrochemistry. One of these substances is the mass produced lactic acid with multiple uses.
The Balatonfűzfő biorefinery project is envisaged to implement a model biotechnology facility where biodegradable polylactic acid, nutrition gluten, lactic acid, as well as ethyl and butyl lactate solvents are made, at present from wheat as the raw material.
What are the benefits of the new raw material?
Today it is not only the demands of the green movements but also the strategic planning of responsible governments that lay increased emphasis on the use of technologies based on renewable resources. The energy applications, the so-called biofuels using renewables, play a significant part, but even in the longer term they will be able to provide only a minor share in the consumption.
Increasing raw material and energy prices and the rapid development of biotechnology procedures collectively result in making the production of the so-called platform compounds by biotechnology means effectively compete with the “conventional” technologies relying on petrochemistry. One of these substances is the mass produced lactic acid with multiple uses.
The Balatonfűzfő biorefinery project is envisaged to implement a model biotechnology facility where biodegradable polylactic acid, nutrition gluten, lactic acid, as well as ethyl and butyl lactate solvents are made, at present from wheat as the raw material.
What are the benefits of the new raw material?
Polylactic acid based packaging materials are suitable to substitute and fully replace packing materials currently made from PET, polyethylene and polystyrole; the packaging materials not re-collected will break down to carbon dioxide and water under natural conditions.The fossil energy needed to produce polylactic acid is at least 30% less than the energy demand of competing plastics.Polylactic acid based solvents are suitable to replace the current solvents made from toxic, environment polluting hydrocarbons; they have no harmful health effects and are fast to decompose biologically in the environment. The byproducts of processing can be used in part for the production of power (biogas), and in part as compost to improve the soil (matured biogas sludge).By utilising and upgrading the first generation technology of the planned biorefinery to process 100,000 tons of wheat annually, we are set to prepare for the expansion of production. Non-food plants, scuh as snow-den yielding extremely high crops in Hungary, may occupy a vital role in the enhanced production capacity.
“HUNEST BIOREFINERY” Kft as an SPV started the technology design of the biorefinery in Balatonfűzfő, and the preparation of the associated detailed feasibility study, which contains the initial environmental licensing of the facility.