U.S. DOE handing out $40M for two biorefinery projects

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of two small-scale cellulosic biorefinery projects in Park Falls, Wis., and Jennings, La., for federal funding of up to $40 million over five years.

The projects, run by Park Falls, Wis.-based Flambeau River Biofuels and Verenium Biofuels in Cambridge, Mass., will use the cash for cellulosic ethanol development.

Flambeau is part of the CellMark Group, a Swedish conglomerate.

"To meet our growing energy demand we must continue to research and advance clean energy solutions to improve our energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and clean, sustainable cellulosic biofuels do just that," said Andy Karsner, assistant secretary of the DOE.

"These biorefineries will create fuel from non-food based sources to power our vehicles and reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

The amount of cash from the total $40 million in funding to go to each company has yet to be determined.

The small-scale facilities will input approximately 70 tons of feedstock per day, with outputs ranging from 1.5 to 6 million gallons per year. The projects will produce liquid transportation fuels such as cellulosic ethanol from wood, energy crops and agricultural waste products.

The Flambeau biorefinery will be installed in an existing pulp and paper mill in Park Falls. Construction of Verenium's facility in Jennings is already underway and is scheduled to be complete later this year.

These two biorefinery projects are the final round of selections for the department's competitive small-scale biorefinery solicitation. Earlier this year, the DOE selected seven other projects to receive up to a total of $200 million.

Once federal funding is combined with industry cost share, the DOE said more than $735 million will be invested in all nine projects over the next four to five years.