by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Front Range becomes third ethanol plant in 3 weeks to head for cost reductions, RIN opportunities with advanced feedstocks, technology.
…In New York, Sweetwater Energy announced a 15-year commercial agreement with Colorado-based Front Range Energy, to supply renewable sugars for up to 3.6 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year during the initial phase of the relationship at Front Range’s current corn-ethanol facility. The agreement has a total potential value in excess of $100 million, and requires a minimal capital outlay by Front Range while stabilizing the company’s feedstock costs.
Sweetwater will use its patented, hub-and-spoke process to convert locally available cellulosic, non-food biomass, such as crop residues, energy crops, and woody biomass into highly fermentable sugar, which Front Range will ferment into ethanol.
…“Supplementing our corn with this sugar allows us to displace some of the volatility of the corn market, with the goal of moving a higher and higher percentage of our production to cellulosic.” says Dan Sanders Jr., Vice President of Front Range Energy. “We’ve had great success fermenting Sweetwater’s sugar, and from a business standpoint, we have great confidence in Sweetwater’s management team.”
…THere are other options. 10 US ethanol plants have joined early adopter groups or begun the process of switchover to biobutanol — using technology from the likes of Gevo, Butamax, or Green Biologics. POET-DSM is pursuing the cellulosic ethanol add-on module – in this case, instead of varying the end product, they are varying the feedstock. Green Plains Renewable Energy is developing an algae biofuels technology with BioProcess Algae, that will convert excess CO2 and heat into a value-add product.
…Currently, corn ethanol RINs cost less than a nickel, advanced RINs sell for $0.45 – so a gallon of ethanol that qualifies in the “advanced pool” (that is, achieves a 50% reduction in emissions compared to fossil fuels) is worth 40 cents more per gallon than a gallon of traditional corn ethanol.
Now, there is the Sweetwater option — which has attracted two plants to date, and we’d expect more to come. In this case, the technology provider assumes the cost and risk of building the facility and sourcing biomass, which is converted into a stream of renewable, cellulosic sugars. Initial modules supply enough sugars to produce up to 3,6 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year — and, according to Ace Ethanol CEO Neal Kemmet, makes good economic sense for the ethanol producer.
…In liquefying biomass before it reaches the ethanol plant — Sweetwater is not only changing the feedstock source, it is changing the economics of shipping by densifying the biomass. Cutting the weight will expand the distance over which biomass can be shipped. READ MORE and MORE (Democrat and Chronicle)