Japanese refiner Eneos and paper producer Nippon Paper are building a pilot plant to produce second-generation bioethanol from wood residues and waste paper.
The pilot plant will have a bioethanol production capacity of around 300 l/d at Nippon Paper's Fuji mill in central Japan, the companies said on 3 September.
Trials will begin in the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year using non-edible feedstocks such as wood residues and waste paper, Eneos said.
Second-generation bioethanol, derived from non-edible feedstocks, does not compete with food supplies and can help reduce CO2 emissions.
Eneos has not specified how bioethanol from the plant will be used but told Argus it could consider gasoline blending or use as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Plans for a commercial plant have not been decided, although the companies will assess the possibility through pilot-scale demonstrations, Eneos added.
Nippon Paper is also developing another bioethanol project at its Iwanuma mill in northeast Japan through Morisora Bio Refinery — a joint venture with trading house Sumitomo, Green Earth Institute (GEI) and Japan Airlines (JAL). Morisora plans to supply Idemitsu with second-generation bioethanol made from woody biomass for SAF production via an alcohol-to-jet pathway at Idemitsu's planned 100,000 kl/yr Chiba facility.
Japan plans to begin supplying 10pc bioethanol-blended gasoline, or E10, in Okinawa prefecture in fiscal 2028 before expanding the rollout in fiscal 2030. The country currently mainly blends bioethanol-derived ETBE into gasoline to reduce CO2 emissions from the automotive sector.
