DOE putting up $114M for small-scale biorefineries

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it would invest $114 million in four small-scale biorefineries to demonstrate the production of cellulosic ethanol.

The DOE said the grants would cover about a third of the cost of the projects in Missouri, Oregon, Colorado and Wisconsin.

Combined with industry cost share, the agency said more than $331 million will be invested in these four projects.

"Spurred by the president's ambitious plan to reduce projected U.S. gas consumption by 20 percent by 2017, our goal is to aggressively push these technologies forward to get them out into the marketplace as quickly as possible, so they can have a real impact," said Samuel Bodman, U.S. secretary of energy.

The DOE said there was an overwhelming response to this solicitation and expects to select a second round of small-scale projects later this spring, bringing total DOE investment up to $200 million.

The agency said the four biorefineries picked in this round, 10 percent of the size of commercial-scale plants, would use a wide variety of feedstocks and test novel conversion technologies.

The small-scale facilities are expected to take in approximately 70 tons of feedstock per day, producing an estimated 2.5 million gallons per year, according to the DOE.

Colwich, Kan.-based ICM will be building a plant in Missouri; Lignol Innovations of Berwyn, Pa., a subsidiary of British Columbia's Lignol Energy, plans to put up a facility in Colorado; Sacramento, Calif.'s Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX) will put up a plant in Oregon; and Stora Enso North America of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., will build in Wisconsin.

Pacific Ethanol will get $24.3 million from the DOE, with the other three companies receiving $30 million apiece.

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