Some 60 employees work at their new Shirk Ave facility now.

Edeniq received a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to retrofit a pilot processing plant that can make fuel from various biomass feedstocks including wood, switchgrass and corn stover — the corn stalk.  READ MORE

That would boost Treutlen County employment even more than the plant’s former owner, Range Fuels, had promised in exchange for state and federal handouts.

…State and local officials say they plan to meet with LanzaTech leaders in about 10 days to discuss possible job creation commitments. The equipment, which made the plant attractive at auction, was purchased mostly through a $6.25 million Georgia grant that required Range to create more than 60 jobs by 2015.

“We’re looking at tens of jobs in the near term, and hundreds of jobs as we scale to commercial (production),” (Laurel) Harmon (vice president for government relations of LanzaTech Inc.) said. “I hate to be specific about dates and numbers at this time. The intent is certainly to fulfill and exceed the job commitments made formerly.

“The goal is to take this site and achieve what wasn’t achieved before.”

LanzaTech Freedom Pines has retained the handful of employees that were still working for Range Fuels and just rehired a former employee, Harmon said.

“Our commitment is to hire locally wherever possible, and people with experience at the plant are an added bonus for us,” she said.

…Initially LanzaTech will build a demonstration-scale plant with the intent to increase to commercial production of 35 million to 50 million gallons a year, Harmon said.  READ MORE

“In his State of the Union address, President Obama outlined his vision for a new era for American energy—an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources that will be designed and produced by American workers,” said Vilsack. “This project and others like it will help to establish a domestic advanced biofuels industry that will create jobs here at home and open new markets in the Pacific Northwest and across America.”

Projected to be operational by late 2014, the biorefinery will create 65 jobs while supporting another 38 jobs with the parent company. Under the conditional commitment, ZBB must meet specified conditions before the 60 percent loan guarantee can be completed.

Located in the northeast part of the state, the biorefinery will use high-yield cellulosic fermentation technology to produce advanced biofuels (cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels). An existing 250,000-gallon per year cellulosic integrated demonstration plant at the site is currently generating operational data that will provide information needed for the commercial scale project, which will be located on an adjacent site. An estimated 51 percent or more of the biorefinery’s output will be advanced biofuel, and the remainder will be high-value biobased chemicals, such as acetic acid and ethyl acetate.

The feedstock will consist of approximately 30 percent agricultural residue, such as wheat straw and corn stover, and 70 percent woody biomass from a local hybrid poplar farm. This poplar biomass carries a Forest Sustainability Council (FSC) certification, giving this cellulosic ethanol project particular merit as a model of environmentally-responsible, sustainable feedstock dependence.

The total project cost for the 25 million gallon per year biorefinery is estimated to be $390.5 million. The development of this advanced biofuel production technology serves as an example of Federal interagency partnerships through program support for research and development from the Department of Energy (DOE) Sun Grant Initiative; USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture; Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Programs; and the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program.

Today’s announcement is the second guaranteed loan under the Biorefinery Assistance Program (Sec. 9003 of the 2008 Farm Bill) to be made by USDA this month. Last week Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA funding will be used to construct a 55,000 square foot facility near Cedar Rapids, Iowa that will produce cellulosic ethanol by converting municipal solid waste and other industrial pulps into advanced biofuels, in addition to production of conventional renewable biofuel derived from seed corn waste.

This funding is an example of the many ways that USDA is helping revitalize rural economies to create opportunities for growth and prosperity, support innovative technologies, identify new markets for agricultural producers, and better utilizes our nation’s natural resources.

The Obama Administration is working to promote domestic production of renewable energy to create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, combat global warming, and build stronger rural economy. Today, Americans import just over half of our transportation fuels – down from 60 percent when President Obama took office – but we can do more to meet the President’s goal of reducing our net fuel imports by one-third by 2025. At Secretary Vilsack’s direction, USDA is working to develop the national biofuels industry producing energy from non-food sources in every region of the country. USDA is conducting and encouraging research into innovative new energy technologies and processes, helping companies build biorefineries – including the first ever commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities – and supporting farmers, ranchers, and businesses taking risks to pursue new opportunities in biofuels. Along with Federal partners, USDA is establishing an aviation biofuels economy, and has expedited rules and efforts to promote production and commercialization of biofuels.

USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance Program was authorized by Congress under the 2008 Farm Bill. It provides loan guarantees to capitalize on the growing opportunities in renewable energy provided by advanced biofuels. The Program is designed to assist with the commercial deployment of production technologies to produce advanced biofuels, and thereby increase the energy independence of the United States; promote resource conservation, public health, and the environment; diversify markets for agricultural and forestry products and agriculture waste material; create jobs and enhance the economic development of the rural economy.  READ MORE and MORE (Biofuels Digest)

Minister of Agriculture Clement Dlamini said the company, FuelEthanol and Agricultural Plantation, completed a preliminary study on the initiative.

…“As the project will require land measuring 15 000 hectares, the company is currently negotiating for some government farms to be used as a base for the initiative. To show commitment towards the project, government has listed some farms in Lavumisa to help with the needed area,” he said.

He said once the study was completed, the ethanol project which comprises establishment of aplant at Somntongo constituency would take place.  READ MORE

Joule’s plant initially will encompass 5 acres, with the potential to scale up to encompass 1,200 acres.  READ MORE and MORE (Xconomy)

The company will next month start blending the fuel from jatropha for its own use.

CEC director in charge of strategy and regulation Silvester Hibajene said the company was currently producing 200,000 litres of crude from jatropha purchased through its network.

…”We have the capacity to produce one million litres of bio diesel per year and right now we are producing 200,000 litres and the reason we have not scaled up our production to one million is because we cannot find enough feed stock so we are hoping to engage more farmers and suppliers,” he said.

…The two enterprises are expected to purchase and process at least 600,000 kilogrammes of good quality seed from small scale farmers, of the crop in Kapiri Mposhi District through KMJGA.   READ MORE

The hub of the biobased economy is of course the biorefinery – a dedicated facility for converting the sugars, oils and proteins from renewable biomass into multiple products such as biofuels, chemicals and materials such as plastics and polymers. The concept is modeled on the petroleum refinery, where petroleum is converted into fuels and chemicals that provide multiple product and revenue streams.

Just as a barrel of oil can be broken down into constituent parts that add up to more by volume and value than the original barrel, the objective of a biorefinery is to develop as many product and value streams as possible from biomass.

…In the past most industry players thought that the biobased economy must directly compete with the entrenched infrastructure of our current fossil fuel economy. That paradigm is starting to change as some forward-looking major oil companies and chemicals companies see the value of incorporating biotech innovation into existing business models and infrastructure.

…To continue progress in building the biobased economy, biotechnology companies need stable, long-term, forward-thinking policies. These policies must support not only biotech companies, but also product manufacturers in adopting new technology and agricultural growers and foresters in the sustainable production of biomass and deployment of biotechnology to improve productivity. One of the biggest challenges is to establish a robust infrastructure for the production, collection and processing of next generation feedstocks – such as cellulosic crop residues, dedicated energy crops and algae biomass. This must be built practically from scratch and it will require strong federal policies. READ MORE

“It comes down to price,” Robinson said.

Energy costs are about 12 percent to 14 percent cheaper here than nationally, which does make it more difficult to market green energy, he said.

…”What makes the most sense is cellulosic biomass,” Robinson said, noting Orangeburg County is full of pines.

“We have the available resource that lends itself to a successful biomass company.”

Organic Bio-Energy Inc., a Claflin spin-off, and Greer-based Green Energy Partners joined together in April 2008 to study the feasibility of building a $75 million, 35-acre biofuel plant/research park at the John W. Matthews Industrial Park. The park is located at the corner of U.S. 176 and U.S. 301.

Officials estimate the output would be 4 million gallons of synthetic biodiesel, 1 million gallons of biobutanol and 44 megawatts of electricity.

Officials estimate the project could create 100 jobs over a five-year period.

The project received an $180,000 grant through the S.C. Department of Agriculture and the S.C. Energy Office in April 2008.  READ MORE