As State Funds Expire, Genera Seeks New Mission
by Kay Brookshire (KnoxvilleBiz.com) As the state’s five-year, $70.5 million investment in the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative comes to an end in June, Genera Energy will take on a more focused role as a biomass supply company for biofuels producers.
At the same time, the University of Tennessee will spin off a second company, TennEra, based on the Genera model, to pursue related opportunities to transfer university technology to the marketplace, according to Kelly Tiller, Genera president and CEO.
TennEra’s general research and development focus will be on technologies and processes for biomass fractionation, or separating cellulosic biomass components and commercial application of biorefinery co-products. UT’s Center for Renewable Carbon and Department of Biosystem Engineering and Soil Science have contributed research in those areas, according to UT’s website. READ MORE



