The Good Side of Government

by Luke Geiver (Biorefining Magazine) For all the gripes, some government-backed programs are working

... (Founder of Westar Trade Resources, Cindy) Thyfault speaks with Biorefining Magazine about the programs that have worked to fund the economic needs of companies such as Coskata or Enerkem; the positive indications she sees amidst a dysfunctional Congress heading into a critical year when the Farm Bill could be potentially overhauled; and simply, to get a positive perspective from someone who has firsthand knowledge of why the political agenda in the U.S. doesn’t always equate to the financial well-being of anyone linked to biobased products and the energy production industries. But just to make sure, we spoke to others in the industries who’ve dealt with government funding, and response is simple: it’s hard work seeking funding, but the end result can transform a technology or idea into a thriving company.

...One of the programs Thyfault believes has worked is the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. “The program has had some success in payments to producers,” she says, “but the goal of that program has been to incentivize cellulosic ethanol production. It’s not been successful in incentivizing advanced biofuels because the plants haven’t been built yet.” But according to Scott Coye-Huhn, director of business development for Aloterra Energy, an Ohio-based energy crop developer, that doesn’t matter. “Aloterra Energy,” he says, “was formed because of BCAP.” ...For the Aloterra Energy team, that meant buying and designing crop handling and planting equipment, buying miscanthus gigantus seed and even a farm to plant and test different varieties.

...“We are already creating jobs in Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio,” he says, “and we have some very large manufacturing contracts that we are about to announce.

...“Being selected by the DOE is very important to us,” says Philippe Lavielle, president and CEO of HCL CleanTech (also formerly with Genencor). “The selection process in itself is a way to obtain an outsider’s view on your technology and your process, and is like a seal of respectability.” Now, Lavielle says the company can become the company he and others believe it can be. “The DOE-funded program will help us optimize the process and the specification of our sugars for their use in renewable fuels,” he said. “It will finance part of our pilot plant operations that are scheduled to create 15 to 20 skilled jobs in the very short-term.”

...But for all these success stories, there is always the strongly held and sometimes warranted belief that amounts given to date are just not enough. “I think the government has been trying to provide support,” Thyfault says. “Where I think they have tried to build a bridge, it is really only like a little hand bridge, and we really need a San Francisco bridge.” READ MORE