Plans to produce ethanol from
washed up seaweed
Waste company GeneSyst UK Limited, a clean technology company that uses a series of processes to produce fuel grade ethanol from the biomass in waste products, is in talks with the Maltese authorities on the setting up of a €102.6 million facility in Malta, company director Geoff Maclaren told this newspaper.
The Malta biomass to ethanol facility is the first of a total of three projects being developed by GeneSyst UK through its local operating company Applied Biofuels (Malta) Limited. Ethanol is a recognised direct substitute for petrol used in transport.
To produce the renewable vehicle fuel, the company uses around 260,000 tonnes of non-food based biomass (or lingo-cellulose), including storm deposited seaweed − some of which is washed up on various Maltese beaches.
Mr Maclaren explained that although the government will not be subsidising GeneSyst, the Maltese authorities “have been forthcoming and very helpful” when dealing with GeneSyst’s inquiries related to the development.
According to the company, “The development by GeneSyst meets the requirements for the production of fuels using biomass that is obtained from non-food sources particularly those discarded as waste. The process of converting biomass to ethanol dates back to the 1820s and is the simplest and most robust of all the procedures used to make the renewable fuel. The process has been used extensively across the world and was used by many during the two great wars of the 20th century and afterwards.”
No locations have been earmarked for the site of the facility, but GeneSyst is confident that once up and running, the company could employ as many as 140 workers, “the majority of whom would be Maltese technicians and apprentices”, Mr Maclaren said.
The company was attracted to Malta by its strategic location, its history, friendship and its prevalent use of the English language, Mr Maclaren said.
The €102.6 million development in GeneSyst’s Malta facility is targeted to produce up to 90 million litres of ethanol fuel by 2013/2014.
In an interview with our daily sister paper last July, Carmel Zammit, head of the Cleansing Services Department, said that, on average, around 5,000 tonnes of seaweed is collected from 67 beaches every six months, although Mr Maclaren said that according to GeneSyst’s calculations, around of 30,000 tonnes of seaweed is washed up on beaches in Malta every year.
Asked whether it is GeneSyst’s intention to produce the fuel and distribute it for consumption in the local market, Mr Maclaren replied, “Our aim is to initially export ethanol, but this would depend on our strategy and the Maltese market.”
In 2008, 110 million litres of diesel and 97 million litres of petrol were sold in Malta according to European Union figures.