The Brazilian Bioenergy Awards, 2012, took place on 18 September at the Grand Hyatt São Paulo.

The two awards recognized excellence in the field of Brazilian biofuels and biomass-to-power and aim to highlight the outstanding work being done by all professionals within the supply chain of biomass-based energy: agri-technologists; biotechnologists; feedstock developers; biofuels producers; utilities and energy companies; financiers and investors; law firms and consultants; logistics and infrastructure specialists; equipment manufacturers; engineers and project developers; and various other support industries.

“Today we are recognizing two collaborative efforts that will make significant economic and environmental impacts across Brazil, and even the world, through the production of biofuels using the next generation feedstocks of microalgae and agricultural waste,” said Nadim Chaudhry, CEO of Green Power Conferences, organizer of the awards and conference. “With more than forty high quality entries, these awards are sending a clear signal that the Brazilian bioenergy industry is making great progress, often times through innovative collaborations, to find efficient, sustainable solutions to future global energy needs.”

Two Brazilian Bioenergy Awards Shorlist and winners

The Brazilian Bioenergy Innovation of the year

This award recognizes excellence in innovation in furthering the bioenergy sector in Brazil. We encourage not just applications of a technological nature, but also submissions which show innovations in project organization, industrial design, project development, engineering, financing, or supply chain logistics. Wherever a clever bit of lateral thinking has been used to solve a challenge, we want to hear about it.

Shortlisted Companies:

• SEE Algae Technology; Grupo JB
• GeoSynFuels and Sermatec
• Vignis Ltda.
• Novozymes Latin America

WINNER:

SEE ALGAE Technology and Grupo JB

The award recognizes a major step forward the in development of the world's first industrial plant producing biofuels from microalgae by utilizing waste carbon dioxide (CO2) from a sugarcane ethanol plant. Planned for construction in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco starting in late 2012 and becoming fully operational in September 2013, the plant is to be set up by Austrian firm SEE ALGAE Technology on a sugar cane plantation run by major Recife-based producer, Grupo JB.

To enhance the microalgae’s photosynthetic growth, the $10 million facility will utilize waste CO2 emitted at the sugar cane ethanol plant onsite at Grupo JB’s plantation, providing the double benefit of producing biofuels while reducing emissions. The group anticipates the plant will annually produce 1.2 million liters (317,000 gallons) of algae oil for conversion into biodiesel and 1,100 tons of protein-rich algae biomass for the local cattle industry or, if operated with genetically engineered algae strains, up to 2.2 million liters (580,000 gallons) of bioethanol.

The project’s goal is to make use of the strong CO2 emissions lost in the sugar cane ethanol production. Initially, the algae-based biofuel facility will use five percent of the emissions from the sugarcane ethanol process but it is expected that the proportion will be significantly increased over time.

It is anticipated that this innovative application of aquatic biomass technology to the Brazilian sugarcane industry will be a major boost for the commercialization of microalgae-based biofuels worldwide.

The Brazilian Bioenergy Deal of the Year

This award recognizes a deal completed or advanced in the calendar year 2012 that is of particular consequence for the long term development of the bioenergy sector in Brazil.

Shorlisted Companies:

• Tonon Bioenergia S.A; Energisa S.A.; Czarnikow Group
• Embraer; The Boeing Company; FAPESP; UNICAMP
• Solazyme, Inc.; Bunge Global Innovation LLC
• ERB - Energias Renováveis do Brasil; BNDES; Banco Bradesco; Banco Itau BBA; Banco Votorantim; Rio Bravo
• GraalBio; DSM; Beta Renewables; Novozymes

WINNER:

GraalBio, Beta Renewables, DSM, and Novozymes

This award recognizes a four company collaboration to produce cellulosic ethanol, initially from widely available sugarcane bagasse and straw. In May, new Brazilian bioenergy company, GraalBio, announced plans to start production in December 2013 of an 82 million liter per year (22 million gallons) advanced biofuels plant in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. The plant will utilize the PROESA technology platform developed by Italian firm Beta Renewables, with Novozymes supplying the necessary enzyme technology and DSM the industrial yeasts.

The GraalBio plant will be the first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Brazil and the entire Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, despite strong competition from a number of the other projects, this deal represents a particularly important milestone as Brazil moves beyond its well-established first generation production and begins to utilize its enormous amounts of recoverable biomass.