Que: Can you elaborate on the company’s journey, its global presence and its key contributions to the biofuels industry?

Ans: Novonesis is the result of the successful merger in 2024 between two leading Danish biosolutions leader - Novozymes, and Chr. Hansen. As a company, we prioritise having a global presence with local reach, enabling localised innovation that is suitable for the regions we operate in. We have close to 40 R&D and application centers around the world and over 20 manufacturing sites.

Novonesis’ pioneering research in biofuels is turning the promise of agricultural feedstocks including grains and biomass into tangible clean energy solutions. Our integrated solutions enable bioenergy producers to access the latest innovations and thereby be competitive, efficient, and above all, sustainable. Our biosolutions (enzymes and yeast) have helped the ethanol industry increase yield by over 3 percent all over the world in the recent past. These gains are accompanied by superior plant efficiency and lower energy consumption. Globally, our biosolutions have supported the reduction of >60 million tons of CO2 emissions annually. Through collaboration, we are nurturing an ecosystem that thrives on innovation and dedication to a greener future.

Our commitment extends beyond research, we continue to work hand-in-hand with technology providers, ethanol producers, and oil marketing companies to strengthen the biofuel ecosystem. Our goal is clear: to contribute significantly to India's energy security and the global pursuit of sustainability by extending our efforts across the farm-to-fuel value chain.

Que: Can you shed light on how Novonesis bioenergy solutions are being implemented in markets like the USA, and Brazil?

Ans: In the US and Brazil, growth has been driven by positive policy support, enhanced industrial capabilities and the use of cutting-edge technologies (including robust digitalization) to boost industrial yield and process efficiency. These markets are evolving towards advanced biorefining models that integrate the conversion process to produce fuel, energy, and chemicals. The success story of the Brazil bioenergy markets is particularly similar to that of India, wherein blending mandates by government have provided a fillip to the growth of the sector.

Within Brazil, Novonesis collaborates with a leading biofuels producer, Raizen, to produce 2G ethanol more efficiently. The partnership works to reduce the production cost, increase capacity and reduce the carbon intensity of biofuels to enable companies and countries to meet their global decarbonisation targets.

A significant way in which both Brazil and the US have been able to leverage bioenergy, is also the way in which they have diversified co-products of biofuels such as Distiller’s Corn Oil (DCO) which has its use cases in home and personal care products, as well as in the production of renewable diesel/biodiesel, and Distillers’ Dried Grain Solubles (DDGS), which is a useful source for animal nutrition. Both DCO and DDGS have been monetised significantly in the US and Brazil. Within India, DCO and high protein DDGS continue to be nascent and niche segments that hold tremendous potential.

Que: India has set ethanol blending targets under the National Policy on Biofuels. How is the company contributing to achieving these goals?

Ans: Novonesis innovations, particularly in relation to enzymes and yeast, aid in higher ethanol yield for ethanol producers, which, in turn, support the Government of India’s Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP). In the context of grain based or 1G biofuels, we provide advanced enzymes and yeast solutions to optimise fermentation processes and enhance the conversion of starch-based grains into ethanol. These solutions are tailored to work across grain feedstocks such as rice, corn, sorghum and biomass feedstocks like rice straws, bagasse and bamboo – equipping ethanol plants with all avenues to produce biofuels basis availability/ accessibility and costs of these feedstocks.

There are two critical factors to solidify the biofuels program – ensuring feedstock availability and optimising producers’ profitability. We are proud to cater to both ends of the spectrum. On one side, Novonesis’ plant health solutions improve crop yield and thereby strengthens availability of feedstocks suited for biofuels production - enabling opportunity to support higher blending rates. On the other, our biofuels solutions enable ethanol plants to produce byproducts which could be monetised to ensure robust profitability. In addition, Novonesis is continuously strengthening its supply operations to cater to the exponential ongoing demand and the elevated projected elevated of Biosolutions – ensuring robust capacity utilisation and reliability of ethanol plants.

Our focus continues to be on further strengthening our first generation (1G) portfolio, while expanding our contributions in 2nd generation (2G) bioethanol production, utilising technological advancements and collaborations that enhance production efficiency.

Biodiesel is another critical biofuel that could be efficiently produced using advanced enzymes, even with alternating feedstocks. This allows for agile, cleaner and sustainable production processes. Our solutions are already being leveraged in producing biodiesel across India. By using innovative enzymes, we can also catalyse the conversion of oils and fats into biodiesel. Our enzymatic process offers a cleaner, more sustainable alternative to traditional chemical methods, thereby also furthering India’s sustainability and net-zero targets.

By driving the adoption of innovative bio-based technologies and fostering collaboration across various sectors, Novonesis is not only aiding in the global battle against climate change but also establishing benchmarks in the bioenergy sector that demonstrate how economic growth, and environmental stewardship can be seamlessly integrated. This approach positions Novonesis as a key player in reshaping energy strategies for a sustainable future, both in India and globally.

Que: What has been Novonesis’ approach to working with ethanol producers, OMCs, and technology providers in India?

Ans: We offer easy and seamless access to Novonesis technologies, supported by robust technical services to ethanol producers, to ensure that producers can maximise their plant’s potential. In our recent collaboration with a leading corn-based ethanol producer in South India (250 KLPD capacity), we were able to enable plant throughput improvements by 20 percent thereby supporting upto 2 percent increased yield in ethanol. The improved throughput and increased yield resulted in savings for the producer of approximately INR 4.5 crore per annum.

We also continuously evolve and fine-tune our portfolio to changing market and customer needs. For instance, with the introduction of corn as a feedstock for ethanol production, Novonesis has introduced an advanced portfolio so that producers get the best output from their investment. In conjunction with technology players, Novonesis has also been able to tailor enzyme blends for second generation (2G) ethanol production using feedstocks such as rice straws, bamboo, amongst others- a classic example of how we innovate and customise for local needs.

Finally, we partner across the value delivery ecosystem to complement each other’s strengths. We understand that our strength is also derived from our ability to partner effectively, and we therefore collaborate with like-minded, highly agile and solution-oriented companies to enable better reach for our most advanced biosolutions.

Que: How does your innovation Innova® Eclipse, enhance fermentation processes and bioethanol yield?

Ans: Our Innova range of yeast solutions are designed to deliver 2 percent+ ethanol yield, relative to standard market products, and offers reduction in glycerol and organic acids. Depending on the process needs, our Innova range could either fast-track fermentation, thereby allowing more ethanol production without adding commensurate fermentation capacities or improve throughput with more complete fermentations.

In essence, our Innova range of products helps ethanol producers improve substrate and carbon conversion efficiency to consistently increase ethanol yields (+1-2 percent with up to 40 percent less glycerol), improve plant throughput and achieve more complete fermentations with industry leading tolerance to fermentation stressors.

Que: Is Novonesis exploring any advancements in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or other next-gen biofuels beyond 1G and 2G ethanol?

Ans: Beyond 1G and 2G ethanol, our solutions are well established in biodiesel and renewable diesel production and are being leveraged globally. Biosolutions drive values in today’s biofuels industry but can also be a platform for opening new value streams in SAF, bio-derived chemicals and maritime fuel.

In relation to SAF, there are currently multiple pathways towards the transition to SAF, each of which has increasing relevance for Novonesis technologies. In the context of SAF from vegetable and waste oils (HEFA: currently the most mature technology for SAF at scale), Novonesis provides the biosolution to pretreat Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOGs) with enzymes, preparing them for conversion by chemical catalysis to jet fuel. For the ethanol-to-jet-fuel route to SAF, Novonesis has solutions for increasing ethanol and by-product yields, and for the reduction of carbon intensity of bioethanol. Novonesis is also exploring alternative biological routes to chemical intermediates that may be suitable to produce SAF, and other chemicals needed in refineries and downstream processes.

Que: Are there any upcoming R&D initiatives or strategic partnerships that you can share?

Ans: Globally, Novonesis invests a significant share of its revenue on R&D activities. Through its continuous R&D efforts, Novonesis has made industry-defining innovations within the bioenergy space. We see this as a continuous journey and trust that India will be positively benefitted from these innovations.

To share a few of our latest innovations in India – in the grain ethanol space, Novonesis launched Fortiva® range last year, which is a revolution in the starch conversion process. This year, we are going to introduce a new glucoamylase portfolio under India, specifically the Spirizyme® series (catering to alternating grain feedstocks). We will then launch an advanced non-GM yeast solution under Innova® range – aiming to catapult ethanol yield and plant efficiencies.

In the 2G ethanol space, we introduced advanced Cellic® enzyme technology, specifically tailored for diverse feedstocks such as rice straw and bamboo and pre-treatment methods. These innovative solutions promise to enhance the efficiency of diverse biomass-to-ethanol production process. Our collaboration is not limited to providing product solutions; it expands to working with our partners in early startup/ commissioning phase by optimising the hydrolysis process - a critical process in 2G ethanol production - and supporting analytical capabilities.

To sum up, I would like to reiterate that Novonesis continues to focus on further strengthening its first generation (1G) portfolio, while expanding its contributions in 2nd generation (2G) bioethanol production, utilising technological advancements and collaborations that enhance production efficiency. Novonesis is committed to fostering long-term partnerships by offering cutting-edge solutions and is dedicated to support India’s energy independence goals.