Zagreb, September 2, 2019 – As part of the INA Downstream 2023 New Course program and the analysis of developmental possibilities for bio-component refining, the first harvest of the miscanthus energy crop was completed at the beginning of the year.The miscanthus (lat. Miscanthus x giganteus)was planted on a demonstration farm in Rugvica in cooperation with BC Institute, near Zagreb, and this season’s harvest yielded around 30 tons of biomass.
Collected biomass was sent to Clariant, a focused and innovative specialty chemical company to their pre-commercial sunliquid®plant in Straubing, Germany,for processing and conversion into lignocellulosic sugars and ethanol. The results give cause for optimismas they show that the sunliquid®technology can successfully convert miscanthus into lignocellulosic sugars and ethanol.
As announced, the INA Downstream 2023 New Course program, focused on ensuring sustainability and profitability of INA refining system,is ongoing. The program includes investment in the DCU project in Rijeka Refinery worth overall HRK 4 bln and transformation of Sisak Refinery into industrial centre. Miscanthus plantation was tested with that in mind, as one of the options.
“I am happy that the results are positive, as that opens the door for more analyses and possibilities. Thanks to cutting edge technology, it was possible to produce advanced bioethanol, which is blended to fossil fuels. This is just one of many steps that need to be taken into consideration to fulfil the prerequisites for the development of biorefinery in Sisak”, said Stjepan Nikolić, Operating Director of Refining and Marketing.
The testing took place under the EU funded GRACE project (GRowing Advanced Industrial Crops on marginal lands for biorEfineries), financed by the European Union, and INA has been given the role of the leader of the demonstration chain for testing the cultivation of Miscanthus hybrids on marginal and lower quality soils for the purpose of processing into advanced bioethanol.
The aims and objectives of the GRACE project are to optimize various miscanthus value chains, to produce sustainable products with a strong market potential and to develop miscanthus as a sustainable feedstock resource for cultivation on marginal, contaminated and abandoned land.
O INA Grupi
INA Grupa ima vodeću ulogu u naftnom poslovanju u Hrvatskoj te značajnu ulogu u regiji u istraživanju i proizvodnji nafte i plina, preradi nafte te distribuciji nafte i naftnih derivata. INA Grupu čini više ovisnih društava u potpunom ili djelomičnom vlasništvu INA, d.d. Sjedište Grupe nalazi se u Zagrebu, Hrvatska. U području istraživanja i proizvodnje nafte i plina, INA danas posluje, osim u Hrvatskoj, u Angoli i Egiptu. Prerada nafte odvija se u Ininim rafinerijama nafte; RN Rijeka i RN Sisak, dok se regionalna maloprodajna mreža sastoji od 500 maloprodajnih mjesta u Hrvatskoj i u susjednim zemljama. INA Grupa članica je MOL Grupe.
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