The two parties are to investigate which of the chemicals of the future can be produced sustainably and competitively from biomass instead of oil.

Exchanging biomass for oil in production
Today, the vast of majority of the chemicals used in materials such as plastic, etc., are produced from oil. The new collaboration between Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability and DONG Energy is to look at how biomass can play a more prominent role in production.

Researching ways of using biomass for energy intelligently
The unique collaboration will build on DONG Energy’s research in the last ten years. In this, DONG Energy has been researching ways of using biomass intelligently for energy. This research has already led to DONG Energy’s biorefinery, Inbicon, becoming a world leader in the production of fuel for cars based on straw and other agricultural waste products.

Turning sugar solutions into biologically-based chemicals
Applying its state-of-the-art biotechnologies, the Novo Nordisk centre will investigate whether the sugar solutions produced at DONG Energy's Inbicon plant today could be further developed into biologically-based chemicals.

Jochen Förster, Chief Technology Officer at Center for Biosustainability says:
”We are delighted about the new collaboration and hope that it will signal the start of a whole series of innovative research collaborations. The purpose of the centre is precisely, in collaboration with companies, to develop new technologies and methods that will make it possible to produce bio-based chemicals and materials at a competitive price in the longer term, which would mark the final breakthrough for the technology”. 

Long-termed interst in biofuels
For DONG Energy, the collaboration is part of the company’s long-term drive to develop new bio-based forms of energy.
 
”DONG Energy has been carrying out research, for more than ten years, into the development of new bio-based forms of energy as an alternative to fossil energy sources. The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability is a world leader in its research field, and combining DONG Energy's biorefinery knowledge with the Novo Nordisk centre’s unique biotechnology knowledge will therefore be hugely exciting. It will allow us to advance the transition to green energy still further," says Charles Nielsen, R&D Director at DONG Energy.

The project will be conducted by The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability until mid-2012.

View DONG Energy's profile on stateofgreen.com.

View the Technical University of Denmark's profile on stateofgreen.com.