800 meters biobased frontrunner
Maabjerg near Holstebro in Jutland can become the home of the first commercial 2G biorefinery in Denmark. But politicians need to show their support in order to make this happen. BioRefining Alliance visited the people behind Maabjerg Energy Concept, who had a special surprise for director Anne Grete Holmsgaard.
Illustration: In front the exiting biogas plant. Behind the 800 meter long future biorefinery.
It will become quite visible this 800 meter long biorefinery in the flat landscape of Maabjerg near Holstebro. Right now it is only a field, but together with the exiting combined heat and power plant and biogas plant the biorefinery will when build in 2016 become a part of Maabjerg Energy Concept.
Annually, it will produce around 70 mio. liters 2G bioethanol, 99 mio. cubic meters biogas - of which 76 mio. cubic meters biogas will be cleaned and upgraded to around 47 mio. cubic meters conventional gas plus heat to 20,000 homes and power to 24,900 homes.
This week BioRefining Alliance went to Maabjerg to learn more about the project and to visit the location that has a chance to make Denmark a frontrunner in bioeconomy.
The alliance had a tour in the big, new and almost odeurless biogas plant, which were opened in June 2012.
Just before the tour director Anne Grete Holmsgaard received a miniature version of a full size manure truck with her name on it.
As an expression of gratitude for supporting the realisation of Maabjerg Bioenergy when she was the energy speaker of the Socialist People Party (SF) they had a truck named after her. Former Minister of Defense Søren Gade and former Minister of Agruculture Henrik Høegh had the same honour.
The chairman of Maabjerg Energy Concept, Jørgen Udby (left) and director of Maabjerg BioEnergy Leverandørforeningen A.m.b.a., Alan Lunde (right), hand over the miniature manure truck to director Anne Grete Holmsgaard.
And the realisation of the biorefinery and with that Maabjerg Energy Concept also needs political support.
The politicians can through e. g. binding targets for advanced biofuels help creating a market for 2G bioethanol.
Because like other types of sustainable energy 2G bioethanol will especially in the first years become a little more expensive than petrol and the often unsustainable 1G biofuels - and therefore not become competitive.
Consequently, investors need to be almost certain that there will be a potential market in order to take the risk of investing in a project like Maabjerg Energy Concept.
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