Biofuel and plastics scuttlebutt

There are more than your average quotient of Propellerheads in cleantech.

And longtime readers know that I—my extraordinary powers the result of a lab experiment gone tragically wrong—count myself among them.

So while you know I always love delving into the nitty gritty science of who's doing what, your Avenger decided that today would be a perfect day to update you on latest whispered business and partnership developments overheard in recent weeks.

Cue your decksanddrumsandrockandroll:

Comintagetcha

Look out Imperium Renewables.

A new American biodiesel star is rising in the east, and may now apparently have good money behind it.

New York-based Innovation Fuels has been assembling biodiesel plants in a bid to become the dominant biodiesel producer on the eastern seaboard, aiming for a 294 million gallon a year production by 2010.

That would make it a producer of the order of magnitude of Seattle's Imperium, which has filed for a $345 million dollar IPO (see the Cleantech Group's Imperium gets big with biodiesel).

Other biodiesel companies also shooting for production in the hundreds of millions include the midwest-based Renewable Energy Group, funded by Bunge, NGP and ED&F Man, and Bio Fuel One, backed by Bear Stearns.

While it hasn't made any announcements, Innovation Fuels is reportedly closing—if it hasn't quietly done so already—on a significant new round, your faithful Avenger overheard from an executive recently.

With all of its facilities clustered around the U.S. northeast, Innovation believes it's well positioned for success, given that most biodiesel demand in the U.S. is expected to be from the region, according to charts the company is touting.

History Repeating

Hot off the commissioning of its plant in Austria, plastic people MBA Polymers has reportedly signed a deal for a second European plant.

While most of the 90 billion pounds of plastic sold worldwide each year today is made from virgin petrochemicals, MBA produces commercial grade plastic from plastic waste, requiring none of the oil, refinery or equipment traditionally involved with making plastic.

Details of the new plant are to be announced in a few months, according to a deal insider. A partner is to provide 100 percent of the waste electronics, automotive and other plastic feedstock for the new plant.

Winning Style

Virent Energy Systems, still flush from its announcement of a partnership with Shell earlier this year (see the Cleantech Group's Shell and Virent Energy Systems pursuing hydrogen from biomass) is apparently soon to reveal another big relationship, a source says.

Early next year Virent will announce a large development and licensing deal early next year, a "significant new global partnership," your friendly Avenger was told by a company official.

Originally focused on generating hydrogen from sugar, Virent has since evolved its "BioForming" process to enable the production of renewable liquid fuels, fuel gases and other chemicals.

Take California

the Cleantech Group reported on this last month, illustrating the lack of California centricity in the cleantech movement (see Bay Area cleantech leadership at risk, says Khosla), but, in case you missed it, it bears repeating.

Investor Vinod Khosla has hinted that two of his portfolio companies are considering leaving California.

Caltech biofuels spinout Gevo is apparently tired of grappling with regulations and how long it takes to build pilot facilities, and thinks it can move faster in Colorado.

Likewise is ethanol company apparently Cilion considering moving on. The company has been building corn ethanol plants in the central valley, but because the permitting cycles are so long, they’re starting to look out of the state and out of the country.

But before you lament the amount of time Khosla may have to spend on planes, there's word he may get to cut down on his New Zealand commute time.

Aukland biofuel-from-carbon-emissions play LanzaTech, which Khosla backed earlier this year (see the Cleantech Group's LanzaTech ethanol from carbon gets funding) is reportedly considering moving to the U.S.

LanzaTech is pursuing the conversion of carbon monoxide from the world's steel mills into ethanol using bacteria.

As always, if you've got cleantech sector gossip, rumor or word of sordid goings-on, dish away!