Biofuel Developer to Build Commercial-Scale Ethanol Plant

Mascoma Corporation, a biofuels company in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said today it has secured financing to build a commercial-scale refinery to produce wood-based cellulosic ethanol. The company says the plant, located in Kinross Charter Township, Michigan, will be one of the first of its kind.

Mascoma Corporation was founded by Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman, two engineering faculty members at nearby Dartmouth College, where they conducted research in the 1980s and 90s on deriving ethanol from cellulosic biomass. The company developed its production methods using cellulose-degrading and ethanol-producing microbes based on their research, and built a pilot-scale plant in Rome, New York. Lynd now serves as the company’s chief scientific officer and Wyman continues on the company’s scientific advisory committee.

The company expects to break ground on the refinery later this year. The biorefinery is planned to produce 40 million gallons of low-carbon cellulosic ethanol. Mascoma says the region of the plant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has an abundance of pulpwood, which will serve as the plant’s primary feedstock. The company’s subsidiary, Frontier Renewable Resources, says the plant will use surplus pulpwood from land owners and loggers, with sustainable forestry management practices.

Some $50 million in equity financing for the refinery is provided by Valero Energy Corporation, a petroleum producer in San Antonio Texas, as well as funds from the State of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Energy. Valero has also agreed to take up the output from the refinery.

Read more: Biofuels Plant Produces First Cellulosic Methanol

Photo: Okko Pyykkö/Flickr

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