Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) and Dacheng Group (Changchun, China) have announced an agreement that expands their cooperation in developing biomass-derived chemicals as replacements for petroleum-based chemicals. Specifically, the two companies will work together to industrialize production of glycol from agricultural waste biomass.
Under the agreement, Novozymes will provide the starch-processor Dacheng Group with know-how and proprietary enzyme products to convert biomass such as corn stover, wheat and rice straw into sugar. Dacheng will convert the sugar into glycol in its northeastern China facility. The facility is expected to mass-produce biomass-derived chemicals within a few years.
Glycols are used in household cleaning products, and as building blocks for synthesizing polyesters and plastics. According to the companies, China produces 700 million ton/yr of agricultural waste.