Brazil’s BNDES and Finep to invest US$1.4 billion to back second-generation ethanol projects
The Brazilian Development Bank BNDES and the country’s innovation agency Finep will allocate BRL 3 billion (US$1.464 billion) over the next four years to develop second-generation ethanol projects.
Part of the funds will be used to support the development, production and marketing of new technologies for industrial processing of biomass from sugar cane, local daily Valor Economico reported.
The initiative will be carried out under the banner of the Industrial Innovation Programme for the Sugar Energy Sector (PAISS), built on three thematic areas: second-generation bioethanol, new products from sugar cane and gasification.
The program’s objective is to back projects that target the Brazilian and South American markets.
Brazil-based biofuel firm GraalBio Investimentos SA has already been approved to receive a loan of BRL 170 million (US$82.9 million) for the first phase of a project to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Brazil, Valor wrote.
