Six Cellulosic Ethanol Plants to Receive Up to $385 Million in Federal Funding From DOE

WASHINGTON, D.C., On February 28, 2007 Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman announced that DOE will fund six biorefinery projects over the next four years with up to $385 million in federal funds, which combined with the industry cost share will result in investment of more than $1.2 billion in these projects. The biorefineries are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually and a number different biobased products, including: power, methanol, hydrogen, and ammonia. Each biorefinery will use more than 700 tons of feestocks per day – feedstocks include agriculture residues such as corn stover, wheat and rice straw; wood residues, wood based energy crops; and landfill organic wastes.

These funds, authorized by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L.109-58, Sec. 932(d)) in the Integrated Biorefinery Demonstration Projects, were announced last year in a solicitation for three biorefineries and for only $160 million for up to 4 years. To bring this initiative in line with the President’s Advanced Energy Initiative the Secretary said, “I thought it would be best to front-end some more funding now, so that we could all reap the benefits of the President’s vision sooner.”

The following six projects were selected (click on the link to go to a one-page summary of each project):

Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC of Chesterfield, Missouri, up to $76 million.

The proposed plant will be located in the state of Kansas. The plant will produce 11.4 million gallons of ethanol annually and enough energy to power the facility, with any excess energy being used to power the adjacent corn dry grind mill. The plant will use 700 tons per day of corn stover, wheat straw, milo stubble, switchgrass, and other feedstocks.

ALICO, Inc. of LaBelle, Florida, up to $33 million.

The proposed plant will be in LaBelle (Hendry County), Florida. The plant will produce 13.9 million gallons of ethanol a year and 6,255 kilowatts of electric power, as well as 8.8 tons of hydrogen and 50 tons of ammonia per day. For feedstock, the plant will use 770 tons per day of yard, wood, and vegetative wastes and eventually energycane.

BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. of Irvine, California, up to $40 million.

The proposed plant will be in Southern California. The plant will be sited on an existing landfill and produce about 19 million gallons of ethanol a year. As feedstock, the plant would use 700 tons per day of sorted green waste and wood waste from landfills.

Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, up to $80 million.

The plant is in Emmetsburg (Palo Alto County), Iowa, and after expansion, it will produce 125 million gallons of ethanol per year, of which roughly 25 percent will be cellulosic ethanol. For feedstock in the production of cellulosic ethanol, the plant expects to use 842 tons per day of corn fiber, cobs, and stalks.

Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, up to $80 million.

The proposed plant will be built in Shelley, Idaho, near Idaho Falls, and will produce 18 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant will use 700 tons per day of agricultural residues including wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, switchgrass, and rice straw as feedstocks.

Range Fuels (formerly Kergy Inc.) of Broomfield, Colorado, up to $76 million.

The proposed plant will be constructed in Soperton (Treutlen County), Georgia. The plant will produce about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year and 9 million gallons per year of methanol. As feedstock, the plant will use 1,200 tons per day of wood residues and wood-based energy crops.