Shell Sweet Tooth

Shell has shifted its biofuel research focus from algae initiatives in Hawaii to new prospects in Brazil.  Shell, along with two other companies, has begun research on utilizing waste product from sugarcane production to make cellulosic ethanol.

Brazil has been producing sugarcane for ethanol purposes since the 1970s, and the new research looks to use enzymes to make the natural byproducts of sugarcane production and harvest into viable alternative fuels as well.

The $12 billion venture heightens Shell’s involvement with the biofuel industry in Brazil as a whole, including production and distribution as well as the new waste research.  The project also involves industrializing the sugarcane production and producing on a much larger scale, with Shell’s monetary backbone.  The venture is in its early stages; we will have to keep an eye on it.

Source:  “Shell Shifts Biofuel Technology Focus to Brazil Sugar-Cane Waste,” by Eduard Gismatullin, April 8, 2011.