OREANDA-NEWS. Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. hereby announces the establishment of a pilot plant in the Kingdom of Thailand to demonstrate the production of ethanol from cassava pulp (residues from tapioca starch factory).

In South East Asia, Idemitsu Kosan has been working on expanding its business in biofuel, which shows promise as a renewable energy source. As part of its business plan, Idemitsu Kosan has built the pilot plant in the premises of Sanguan Wongse Industries (SWI), the largest single starch tapioca plant in Asia. The pilot plant has commenced the operation to demonstrate the novel technology characterized by the absence of pretreatment of cassava pulp and stirring system during fermentation process. This novel process may enable the manufacture of bioethanol with lower cost and energy consumption.

The technology has been jointly developed by Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (Location: Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki), Kasetsart Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Product Improvement Institute (KAPI), Kasetart University (Location: Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand) and Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd.