https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101636.html

Toray Ltd. and DM Mitsui Sugar have jointly developed a system to produce plant-derived sugar from sugarcane residue (bagasse) generated at sugar refineries in Thailand as part of NEDO’s “Demonstration Project on Energy-saving Cellulose Sugar Production System from Surplus Bagasse Raw Material.  This system will make it possible to replace petroleum-derived chemicals with chemicals derived from plants (inedible plants) that do not compete with foodstuffs, thereby realizing a recycling-oriented society. In this demonstration, we confirmed that the concentration of sugar solution using separation membranes can save more than 50% energy compared to conventional systems, and that the purified inedible sugar can be used as a fermentation material for ethanol and succinic acid production.

By increasing the number of overseas demonstration cases of such advanced technologies, NEDO will contribute to the diffusion and development of energy-related industries in Japan and to the enhancement of energy security, as well as to energy conversion and decarbonization in Japan and abroad.