Last week, the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council (USGBC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) to jointly promote the development of ethanol in the region through mutual knowledge exchange and technical cooperation.
USGBC Vice President Cary Sifferath signed the document on behalf of the Council with USGBC Director in Taiwan Michael Lu, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Chief Steven Burgoon and AIT Economic Officer Ann Ku in observance.
“As TSC is Taiwan’s largest corporate pig farm, pork supplier and a user of U.S. corn, it maintains fermentation infrastructure and technical expertise for ethanol production, making it one of the few domestic entities capable of doing so,” Sifferath said in his opening remarks.
“Through this collaboration, we aim to explore the potential of using imported U.S. corn as a feedstock for ethanol production in Taiwan, and the possibility of leveraging its storage capacity to import U.S. ethanol.”
Lu added that following the Council’s 2024 MOU with CPC Corporation, a major energy company in Taiwan, this new partnership with TSC marked another important step toward developing bioethanol applications in Taiwan.
After the signing ceremony, the delegations traveled to Tainan for a tour of TSC’s headquarters, including its ethanol testing and production facilities, to demonstrate the company’s leadership in Taiwan’s biofuel sector.
Sifferath and Lu also attended the Taiwan Sustainable Aviation Forum, where industry stakeholders discussed Taiwan’s aspirations to reach net-zero aviation emissions and how sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can make that goal a reality.
“The Council will continue collaborating with both companies through technical exchanges, stable feedstock support and pilot projects to advance biofuel applications, strengthen Taiwan’s energy resilience and support its net-zero transition goals,” Lu said.
Learn more about the Council’s work in Taiwan on the organization’s website.