How a 75-Million-Gallon Plant in Italy Heralds the Rise of a More Efficient Kind of Biofuel

The world’s first plant able to produce cellulosic biofuel at commercial scale using enzymatic conversion recently opened in Crescentino, Italy. When it’s fully up and running, the plant is expected to deliver 75 million liters (just shy of 20 million gallons) of ethanol to the European market.

Admittedly, the “world’s first” title rests on narrow grounds.  The plant uses a particular process developed by its owner, Beta Renewables, that first breaks raw materials down into sugars using enzymes, and then converts those sugars into ethanol through fermentation by bacteria.

How a 75-Million-Gallon Plant in Italy Heralds the Rise of a More Efficient Kind of Biofuel