Novozymes confident China's ethanol market to undergo strong growth

Novozymes, a Danish biotech company which produces bioethanol enzymes, is confident that China will be a major player in the ethanol market. Michael Christiansen, regional president for Novozymes China, says that he expects that the bioethanol market in China could grow by at least 20% in the next five years. In a recent interview, Christiansen said, “The majority of the growth we are seeing in Asia will clearly come from China.” China is one of the company’s top global markets. Novozymes is presently in a joint venture with Sinopec and COFCO, to develop second-generation biofuels in China. The enzymes produced by Novozymes are used in breaking down the starch in food crops to produce environmentally friendly biofuels. Christiansen also discussed the partnership with China’s Dacheng Group, in which the two companies are working on producing plastics from agricultural waste. (April 14, 2011)