Clariant struggles with cellulosic ethanol

Abstract

Clariant has recorded a $242 million reduction in the value of its cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Podari, Romania. The chemical maker says the accounting decision reflects a slower-than-expected ramp-up to the facility’s nameplate capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year. The write-off represents most of the asset value of the plant, in which Clariant has invested around $258 million. But the company says the plant and Sunliquid technology retain significant value. This summer, Shell agreed to purchase the entire output of the Romania plant for several years, and Clariant has already sold five licenses to firms building other Sunliquid plants. Clariant says in an email that an undersized feedstock pretreatment unit, which it has since expanded, was an early hurdle. More recently, the firm has been struggling with a bottleneck in on-site production of the fungal enzymes that degrade cellulose into fermentable sugars. The result has been lower-than-expected production,