This production of cellulosic ethanol from Canadian woodchips followed the plant construction phase that commenced in June, 2008 and the start-up phase that commenced in April, 2009. This represents the first end-to-end production of ethanol utilizing all of the unit operations of Lignol’s technology.

Lignol uses a modified solvent based pre-treatment technology, originally developed by a former affiliate of General Electric, and then further developed and commercialized for wood-pulp applications by a subsidiary of Repap Enterprises Inc.

The technology produces a clean pulp that converts feedstock rapidly into fermentable sugars with high yield and lower enzyme costs. The process also produces co-products with revenues that mitigate the costs of production and commodity risks, including a high-quality cellulose fiber with applications in certain specialty markets and high-purity lignin (HP-L Lignin), an organic compound that is differentiated from other types of lignins that are typically produced as by-products in the traditional Kraft pulp manufacturing process.

Through planned production campaigns, Lignol intends to operate the pilot plant under a wide range of operating parameters to process various non-food feedstocks. This will involve utilizing various equipment configurations, enzyme formulations and process conditions to optimize the yield of cellulosic ethanol, as well as the quality and performance of related biochemicals.