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SunOpta Announces Sale of Cellulosic Ethanol Facility to China Resources Alcohol Corporation
SunOpta Announces Sale of Cellulosic Ethanol Facility to China Resources Alcohol Corporation.
About this update from Sunopta Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nTORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - SunOpta Inc. (SunOpta or the Company)\n(NASDAQ:STKL) (TSX:SOY). Yesterday at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop\n& Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, SunOpta's BioProcess Group discussed\ndevelopments in the cellulosic ethanol market in China and other parts of the\nworld. Today, the Company is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract\nto sell a cellulosic ethanol pilot demonstration facility, which is based on\nSunOpta's patented and proprietary biomass conversion technology, to China\nResources Alcohol Corporation (CRAC) for research and development on\ncellulosic ethanol production at their facility in ZhaoDong City, Heilongjiang\nProvince. Based upon completion of final details, the companies anticipate\nthat this cellulosic ethanol research facility will start up in late 2006.\nTerms of the sale were not disclosed. As part of the transaction, SunOpta and\nCRAC intend to enter into a Joint Development Agreement between SunOpta, CRAC\nand Novozymes for the development of cellulosic ethanol in the People's\nRepublic of China. The Chinese central government recently announced a $5.0\nBillion US capital investment over the next 10 years on ethanol capacity\nexpansion with a focus on cellulosic ethanol.\nThe SunOpta Bioprocess Group has been designing, building and optimizing\nbiomass conversion plants for over thirty years. End products include\ncellulosic ethanol, cellulosic butanol, xylitol and dietary fibre for human\nconsumption. Raw materials include wheat straw, corn stover, grasses, oat\nhulls, wood chips and sugarcane bagasse.\nCRAC is the second largest ethanol producer in China. CRAC's goal is to\ninstall 5,000 Tonnes per year (1.7 Million US gallons per year) of cellulosic\nethanol capacity by the end of 2007 and 1,000,000 Tonnes per year (330 Million\nUS gallons per year) by 2012 utilizing multiple lines of SunOpta's proprietary\nprocess technology and equipment.\nNovozymes (NASDAQ:NVZMF)(CSE:NZYM) is a world leader in the production of\nenzymes necessary to convert corn or agricultural waste, such as corn stover,\nwheat straw and wood chips, into fuel ethanol for automobiles. The Company has\nbeen instrumental in revolutionizing the production of transportation fuel\nthrough application of its enzyme technology for ethanol, both based on corn\nstarch and agricultural r...