BioFuels Journal

Sao Paulo, Brazil—Sermatec Zanini and GeoSynFuels, LLC (GSF) have announced the formation of a strategic alliance for the development and commercialization of GSF’s proprietary cellulosic ethanol technology.

The strategic alliance allows Sermatec Zanini to earn an equity position in GeoSynFuels in exchange for engineering services and a future role in the sales and marketing of the technology in Latin America.

The initial focus of the strategic alliance will be the construction and operation of a demonstration plant adjacent to a Brazilian sugar cane mill to treat sugar cane bagasse.

This activity will set the stage for the commercialization of the technology in Brazil’s well-established sugar cane milling industry.

The global annual ethanol potential of the technology is approximately 10 billion gallons with 4.5 billion gallons of that being centrally located in Brazil.

“The partnership between Sermatec Zanini, and GeoSynFuels is an important next step in the commercialization of our cellulosic ethanol technology.

"Sermatec Zanini´s world class engineering skills and knowledge of the market bring significant benefits to GeoSynFuels.

"We look forward to working with the Sermatec Zanini team in this critical phase of our technology development,” said Todd Harvey, President and CEO GeoSynFuels.

Sermatec Zanini has the experience necessary to bring the GSF technology to the demonstration scale and beyond.

“The company is entering into this agreement because we believe that GSF will be a valuable strategic partner and that this opportunity can facilitate the evolution of Sermatec Zanini’s business including; 1) the ability to expand the company’s existing EPC business into a new market space and 2) to position Sermatec Zanini as an advanced biofuel technology company, sharing in the growth of that space with GSF,” said Antonio Carlos Christiano, President and CEO Sermatec Zanini.

The management of GSF brings together a breadth of knowledge tailored to the development and commercialization of technologies; with extensive experience in process development, intellectual property management, and entrepreneurial business administration.

The new venture will be managed through GSF’s wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, TenX Biofuels Participações Ltda (TXB), which has been granted a royalty-free exclusive license to the 5CS™ Technology.

The development of GSF's technology is projected to reduce the cost of cellulosic biofuels and enable GSF to compete in the $1.5 trillion global transportation fuel market.

At present, the high cost of feedstock and its obligated uses (boiler fuel) are major barriers to the expansion of the industry.

GSF's technology seamlessly integrates with existing commercial biomass processors because the technology maintains the existing biomass-to-energy use while providing a value-add ethanol product stream.

“There has been a doubt as to how to generate electricity if the bagasse is used for the production of ethanol but this technology shows that with the same bagasse it is possible to obtain both,” said Antonio Carlos Christiano, President and CEO Sermatec Zanini as quoted in Revista Canamix September 2011.

GeoSynFuels, LLC (“GSF”) is a private, U.S. based company that has developed an economic method for the production of biofuels and biochemicals (including cellulosic ethanol and acetic acid).

This technology “bolts-on” to existing sugar cane processing facilities (or other biomass facilities) and enables the production of significant incremental ethanol at low cost.

The 5CS™ Technology provides a plug-and-play ethanol package to existing biomass aggregators such as sugar cane processors and pulp mills.

The process has the potential to provide new co-product ethanol revenues to both industries.

Additionally, the 5CS™ process has the potential to be applied to the front-end of biomass-to-energy facilities including applications such as cogeneration and pellet plants.

The 5CS™ process is unique in that it extracts only the hemicellulose from the sugar cane residue (bagasse) or wood for conversion into ethanol while leaving the feedstock relatively unaltered and suitable for its original usage, combustion or paper making.

The foundation of the technology is the ability to economically extract and convert the hemicellulose-based sugars.

For more information, call 303-215-0740.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• GSF

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