Argentine companies YPF and Indear sign agreement for ethanol research and production

Indear (Instituto de Agrobiotecnología Rosario), a biotechnology company belonging to the Bioceres Group, announced that it had signed a research agreement with YPF, the Argentine unit of Spain’s Repsol SA. Under the agreement, the two Argentine companies will work towards the development of technological solutions for the production of ethanol from forest and agricultural waste. Indear will focus on developing the technology that will produce enzymes that will be used for the production of second-generation ethanol from cheaper raw materials. Bagasse, wood chips and stubble are among the raw materials being considered. YPF in turn will use its expertise in the characterization of the product and select the technologies that can be used for implementation on an industrial scale. Argentina requires oil refiners to produce fuel blends containing 95% petrol and 5% ethanol. (November 25, 2011)