Global Bioenergies has announced that it has received the official permit to commence operations at its Leuna biomass-to-isobutene demo plant from TÜV, the main state certification agency in Germany.

French biotechnology development company Global Bioenergies has announced that it has received the official permit to commence operations at its Leuna demo plant in Germany from TÜV, the main state certification agency in Germany. The clearance was obtained for the fermentation area after a complete audit, specially focused towards safety and environmental issues. The plant will convert industrial sugars to bio-isobutene, a platform chemcial use in fuels, materials and chemical
– Obtaining clearance to commence the plant start-up is a great milestone for the company. We recently transferred the technology from the pilot plant in Pomacle, France, and a first fermentation run is starting this week, said Ales Bulc, CEO of Global Bioenergies’ German subsidiary.
A team of 12 operators have been recruited and trained by the Fraunhofer Institute, which is in charge of operating the Leuna demo plant on a 24/7 basis.
– The demo plant will now start its activities sequentially: we should be able to produce fermentative isobutene, which will be flared, in the next weeks. We expect to start the purification unit and the filling station in Q1 2017. Tonne-scale shipments of isobutene batches should then start shortly, said Rick Bockrath, Vice-President Chemical Engineering at Global Bioenergies.