World’s largest advanced biofuels facility opens in Italy

October 9, 2013, Crescentino, Italy – Beta Renewables and
Novozymes have partnered in the development of an advanced biofuel plant in northern
Italy that will produce to 75 million liters of cellulosic ethanol annually
from agricultural waste.

Situated in fields outside the city of Crescentino, it is
the first plant in the world to be designed and built to produce bioethanol
from agricultural residues and energy crops at commercial scale using enzymatic
conversion.

The two companies formed a strategic partnership in October
2012, making Novozymes the preferred enzyme supplier for Beta Renewables’
current and future cellulosic biofuel projects.

The plant uses wheat straw, rice straw and arundo donax, a
high-yielding energy crop grown on marginal land. Lignin, a polymer extracted
from biomass during the ethanol production process, is used at an attached
power plant, which generates enough power to meet the facility’s energy needs,
with any excess green electricity sold to the local grid.

At the inauguration, Guido Ghisolfi and Peder Holk Nielsen
were joined on the ground for the celebrations by Italy’s Minister for Economic
Development, Flavio Zanonato, and representatives from the European Commission,
as well as more than 500 global stakeholders.