SKAERBAEK, DENMARK — Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (Mitsui) and Inbicon announced on Feb. 24 that the companies have signed a license agreement for the Inbicon Biomass Refinery technology, a technology capable of converting second-generation biomass into fuel ethanol.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mitsui has the right to build a number of biomass refineries in Southeast Asia using Inbicon’s technology. Mitsui said it intends to apply the technology in the palm oil industry, where waste products from the palm oil production can be utilized to produce ethanol, solid biofuel for energy production and animal feed.

"With the License Agreement, we have taken an important step towards the establishing of plant engineering business for the production of second-generation ethanol in Southeast Asia, and we have already committed considerable resources to the development of this new business," said Shunichi Yamashita, director of Mitsui. "Furthermore, we are expecting to expand the cooperation with Inbicon into other markets."

The agreement marks the first sale of licensing for Inbicon, which is a subsidiary of Dong Energy.

"The agreement is a milestone in Inbicon’s history," said Niels Henriksen, chief executive officer of Inbicon. "It is the culmination of our year-long cooperation with Mitsui, which started with our testing of palm waste as a feedstock, and we are very proud to have Mitsui as our first licensee. With the license agreement, Mitsui has positioned themselves as a frontrunner within the field of biofuel."

Henriksen said the Inbicon wants to expand the cooperation into other markets. He said the company is looking at commercial plants for second-generation ethanol with the latest developments within enzyme technology.