CERAWeek 2008 - Quest for Security: Strategies for a New Energy Future

DOE to Invest $114M in Small-Scale Cellulosic Biorefineries

February 8, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest $114 million over four years in four small-scale biorefinery projects to be located in St. Joseph, Mo.; Commerce City, Colo.; Boardman, Ore.; and Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

These 10% of commercial-scale biorefineries will use a variety of feedstocks and test "novel" conversion technologies to provide data necessary to bring online full-size, commercial-scale biorefineries, said the DOE.

On average, commercial-scale biorefineries input 700 tons of feedstock per day with an output of approximately 20-30 million gallons a year (MMGY); these small-scale facilities will input approximately 70 tons of feedstock per day with an estimated 2.5 MMGY, according to the DOE.

The following four projects were selected:

ICM Inc.; DOE will provide up to $30 million
The proposed plant will be located in St. Joseph, Mo. and will use "diverse" and relevant feedstocks including agricultural residues such as corn fiber, corn stover, switchgrass and sorghum, said the DOE.

ICM Inc. will integrate biochemical and thermochemical processing and demonstrate energy recycling within the same facility. This project stands to broaden the company's focus from corn-based to energy crop-based ethanol production, said the DOE.

ICM Inc. is a privately held company with the mission of sustaining agriculture through innovation primarily through the engineering and construction of ethanol biorefinerie, said the DOE.

Lignol Innovations Inc.; DOE will provide up to $30 million
The proposed plant, colocated with a petroleum refinery, will be located in Commerce City, Colo. and using biochem-organisolve will convert hard and soft wood residues into ethanol and commercial products colocated with a petroleum refinery.

Lignol Innovations is a U.S.-based company with a publicly traded Canadian parent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Lignol acquired and since modified a solvent-based pretreatment technology that was originally developed by a subsidiary of General Electric, said the DOE.

Pacific Ethanol Inc.; DOE will provide up to $24.3 million
The proposed plant will be located in Boardman, Ore. and will convert agricultural and forest product residues to ethanol using BioGasol's proprietary conversion process, said the DOE.

Pacific Ethanol is a producer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the Western U.S. The company plans to add cellulosic conversion capability to their corn-based ethanol facility in Oregon.

Stora Enso, North America; DOE will provide up to $30 million
The proposed plant will be located in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. and proposes to take wood wastes and convert it to Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel.NewPage Corp. acquired Stora Enso North America, which is the original applicant for this funding opportunity announcement, said the DOE.

NewPage Corp. is a printing paper manufacturer in North America. The company's product portfolio includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered and specialty papers.

Expected to be operational in four years, the selected small-scale biorefineries projects will produce liquid transportation fuels such as cellulosic ethanol as well as bio-based chemicals and bio-based products used in industrial applications.

Combined with industry cost share, more than $331 million will be invested in these four projects, said the DOE. The DOE is also working with these companies and other research partners to develop methods for reducing water and fertilizer needs associated with production of these fuels.

With all of these projects, the amount of fossil fuel used to produce the biofuels is less than that associated with gasoline - on average as much as 90% less over the life cycle, claims the DOE.

Cellulosic ethanol is an alternative fuel made from a variety of nonfood plant materials (or feedstocks) including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production like switchgrass, said the DOE.

By using a variety of regional feedstocks for refining cellulosic ethanol, the fuel can be produced in nearly every region of the country, said the DOE.

And because these fuels rely on nonedible portions of crops and agricultural residues and forest wastes they have the added advantage of not competing with food crops, said the DOE.

Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy than traditional corn-based ethanol and has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 85% relative to gasoline, said the DOE.

E-85, an ethanol-fuel blend that is 85% ethanol, is already available at nearly 1,350 fueling stations nationwide and can power millions of flexible fuel vehicles already on the roads, claims the DOE.

This announcement is part of more than $1 billion the DOE announced within the last year for multi-year biofuels research and development projects.

These small-scale projects are intended to complement the DOE's February 2007 announcement, where projects were selected to receive up to $385 million over four years for the development of six commercial-scale biorefineries.

The full-scale biorefineries focus on near-term commercial processes while the small-scale facilities will experiment with diverse feedstocks using novel processing technologies, said the DOE.

Due to an overwhelming response to this solicitation, the DOE said it anticipates selecting a second round of small-scale projects later this year bringing the DOE total investment up to $200 million should a second round of selections be made.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).