Clariant collaborates with Pertamina on advanced biofuels assessment
By Mary Page Bailey |
April 20, 2021
Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland) has been working with Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas corporation, Pertamina, since 2018 to evaluate and test the feasibility of Clariant’s sunliquid technology to process available regional feedstocks in Indonesia into the advanced biofuel, cellulosic ethanol.
Indonesia has a vast potential of untapped biomass, from empty fruit bunches to palm leaves, that could be converted into cellulosic ethanol. Their present-day utilization is negligible and, until now, both feedstocks are frequently burnt, causing air pollution.
In Indonesia, ethanol demand is expected to increase dramatically, spurred primarily by a nationwide E10 ethanol blending mandate. Advanced fuel technology solutions, such as Clariant’s sunliquid® process, are vital to match the feedstock potential with the increasing ethanol demand in the country.