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Technology Strategy

Know-how and technology to accelerate energy transition to neutral carbon economy

GranBio has developed its proprietary technology focused on “biocracker platforms” to enable flexible biorefineries utilizing biomass as feedstock (BIOFLEXTM) by producing very competitive and pure cellulosic sugars as we call the “new crude”. Our technologies have been proved to convert almost any type of biomass into non edible sugars into biofuels, biochemicals and advanced renewable materials.

Our strategy of focusing on flexible biorefinery platforms takes aims to enable the essential link of the biomass value chain to net zero renewable products. GranBio has developed two technology platforms to convert cellulose into highly fermentable sugars in order to reduce fossil fuel and petrochemical dependency with “drop in” products:

AVAP

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SAF and BioChemicals: pure and low cost cellulosic sugars from a fractionation process utilizing recoverable SO2 with auto-hydrolyzed hemicellulose

Fractionates any biomass via proprietary use of SO2 and ethanol into hemicelluloses, lignin and cellulose

Low inexpensive chemical use and low energy consumption. Low use of enzymes.

High yield cellulose is ~95% pure with high alpha content, high crystallinity and low lignin, easily converted to glucose

Standard unit operation, moderate CAPEX

Ethanol and unused SO2 recovery > 99% in energy-efficient manner

Read more about AVAP

GP+

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E2G: thermo-mechanical biorefinery processes making mixed cellulosic sugars for ethanol production

Thermomechanical pretreatment technology covered by 17 patents and 11 years of experience of continuous operations, pilot, demo and commercial scales

Very robust technology demonstrated at industrial scale

Enables cost effective cellulosic ethanol production at a medium scale of 50-80M liters/y using 230kt to 440kt of dry biomass and low enzyme consumption

Clean lignin output provides effective energy integration of ethanol production with biopower

Read more about GP+

One of GranBIo’s strategic directives consists of using its knowhow about biomass development and logistics that can be scaled up to commercial output as an integrated piece of enabling the green value chain approach. From its competitive cellulosic sugar platform GranBio enables almost all fermentable chemicals and biofuels at large and replicable scale.

We believe that cellulosic sugars can become the “new crude”, renewable, green and allied of food production with great potential of degraded land recovery in South America and Africa. In the US, in addition to agricultural residues, we invest on assessing the viability of retrofitting and recovering idle pulp&paper mills value chains that have been shut down for lack of competitiveness but can be repurposed as biorefineries to produce SAF and biochemicals.

GranBIo R&D strategy aims FTO (Freedom to Operate) and Freedom to License (FTL) of all its technologies with the business purpose of licensing and operating, with potential ownership or co-ownership.

GranBio concentrates its technology strategy in three fronts:

  • Biomass: to provide biomass integrated solutions and feedstock security at scale that enables biofuels and biochemicals at competitive cost and NetZero emission in anywhere in the world
  • Pioneer and disruptive R&D: To enable proprietary clean technologies using state of art applied science in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, process engineering and execution up to semi-commercial scale with FTO and FTL
  • Technology Licensing: Develops complementary business alliances to optimize integrated technology solutions and readiness to execute industrial scale Net Zero biorefinerese with options of EPC TKLS and build and operate.

In the last 12 years GranBio has signed and executed more than 32 Joint Development Agreements of new bio-processes, renewable composites and materials and commercial alliances. Our more than 300 patents globally are a sign of our creative capacity and ability to cooperate to execute, but they are one piece, a very important piece, of our company. Our combined knowhow, longterm experience, team quality and resilient culture is the true basis of our technology asset.

BioVertis

BioVertis is the business unit responsible for developing and providing knowhow about biomass. GranBio has developed Cana-energia Vertix which is currently licensed by Nuseed to more than 20 customers in Brazil. GranBio believes that Cana-energia Vertix is ​​the most competitive biomass for the production of cellulose sugars in tropical and subtropical climate. The business unit also holds the knowledge for the handling, storage and industrial use of more than 20 varieties of biomass, such as wood chips, sugarcane bagasse and straw, corn and rice straw, palm oil husks, among others.

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GranBio Tech

GranBio Tech, a subsidiary of GranBio located in Georgia (USA), coordinates the Thomaston R&D Center, with 5 integrated pilot plants that demonstrate GP+ and AVAP technologies (for the production of cellulosic sugar and 2G ethanol, nButanol, SAF) and BioPlus (for nanocellulose production). Thomaston has operated for over 12 years in alliance with customers and strategic partners. Part of GranBio's strategy is to demonstrate its technology on a pilot and semi-commercial scale in partnership with equipment suppliers assuring full scale up to industrial plants in order to minimize the risk of scaling up.

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