Federal-private partnership will create jobs, continue drive towards advanced biofuels being competitive with fossil fuel

America moved a step closer to making advanced biofuels widely available for consumers when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $25 million partnership with Novozymes’ partner Fiberight to support construction of a new advanced biofuels plant in the United States.

Located in Blairstown, Iowa, the plant will produce 6 million gallons of advanced biofuels per year when fully operational in the first half of 2013.

”Advanced Biofuels are going commercial – and the innovation behind turning trash into biofuels demonstrates how our industry can create jobs and solve our nation’s energy needs,” says Adam Monroe, President of Novozymes North America. ”Novozymes is proud to be a partner to this project, supplying the enzymes to turn household and office waste into advanced biofuels. We applaud the federal government for its leadership in helping bring biofuels to market.”

Fiberight will invest $20 million in the plant, combined with the $25 million federal investment. The plant will employ approximately 55 employees and and generate 100 construction jobs. 

“We truly believe that 2012 is the year for take-off in this industry. Steel is going into the ground , more Americans are going to work make biofuels and we anticipate seeing significant volumes of biofuels as a result,” says Craig Stuart-Paul, CEO of Fiberight. “Our long-term and extensive involvement with Novozymes has helped us development a commercially-pathway to advanced biofuels – and today it’s been rewarded by the U.S. Government.” 

In addition to the commercial-scale project funded today, Fiberight will have a smaller-scale producing and selling ethanol in Lawrenceville, Virginia in 2012.

American ethanol helped create 70,000 jobs in 2010, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. A recent analysis by economists from the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University found growth in ethanol production also reduced gasoline prices by an average of $0.25 per gallon, or 16 percent, from 2000 – 2010.

A strong federal partnership, and smart policies like the Renewable Fuel Standard, are critical to job-creation and Americans getting the best prices and choices at the pump. 

Cellulosic ethanol is produced from biomass such as wheat straw, corn stover, municipal waste, or energy crops, which is first broken down into a pulp. Enzymes are then added, turning the pulp into sugar which is fermented into ethanol. Novozymes, the world’s leading provider of enzymes to the biofuels industry, has collaborated closely with Fiberight to streamline the production process and will supply enzymes for the plant.

Iowa-Based Project will Create Jobs, Expand Production of Biofuels

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2012 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA has approved a conditional commitment for a $25 million guaranteed loan to build a biorefinery plant with funding support from USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance Program. The plant will be constructed by Fiberight, LLC based in Blairstown, Iowa.

“This project is another step the Obama administration is taking to support production of a new generation of renewable fuels, in order to build an active biofuels and biomass production industry in every region of the country,” said Vilsack. “Investments in renewable energy create jobs and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.”

USDA funding will be used to construct a 55,000 square foot facility that will produce cellulosic ethanol by converting municipal solid waste and other industrial pulps into advanced biofuels, as well as using conventional renewable biofuel derived from seed corn waste. When operational, the facility is expected to produce approximately 3.6 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. The process will use a cellulosic microbe to produce up to 15 percent more ethanol than traditional fermentation technology, and reduce energy inputs in the fermentation and distillation process. Fiberight estimates the project will create 38 jobs and save 16 jobs.

Under the conditional commitment, Fiberight must meet specified conditions before the loan guarantee can be completed. Other funding comes from the State of Iowa.Fiberight also received a $2.5 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund in 2010. The company will work with the Benton County landfill to supply a portion of the feedstock for the project. The total project cost is estimated at $59.5 million. Fiberight, LLC was incorporated in 2007 for the purpose of converting an existing ethanol facility into a cellulosic ethanol facility in Blairstown.

By Kris Bevill | November 16, 2011

The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration predicts that only six cellulosic biofuel producers will make fuel available for sale in 2012, producing a total of just 6.9 million gallons of fuel over the course of the coming year. The agency’s annual fuel production estimates were submitted recently to the U.S. EPA as required by the Clean Air Act and will be used as the basis for the EPA’s 2012 renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes, due to be finalized by Nov. 30.

In June, the EPA proposed a 2012 cellulosic biofuel volume range of 3.45 to 12.9 million gallons,   drastically lower than the original 500 million gallon target set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The proposed reduction was somewhat anticipated by the biofuels industry, which has failed to scale-up its cellulosic production capabilities at the pace intended initially due a variety of reasons. Producers argued at a public hearing this summer that the EPA should finalize a volume on the high side of the proposal in order to continue to encourage investment in the industry, but the EIA’s predictions, which are based on publicly available information and on discussions with potential producers, indicate that actual production will likely be closer to the low end of the EPA’s proposed spectrum. The EIA has also determined that several companies named by the EPA in its proposed rule will not be mechanically able to produce fuel for sale next year.

According to an Oct. 19 letter issued by EIA Acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the EIA expects cellulosic ethanol producers Fiberight LLC and Ineos New Planet BioEnergy LLC and renewable diesel producer KiOR Inc. to produce cellulosic biofuels at commercial-scale next year. Additionally, the EIA named KL Energy Corp. and ZeaChem Inc. as being able to contribute smaller amounts of fuel to the 2012 RFS from their demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities. The EIA also included American Process Inc. as a small contributor. The EPA did not include API on its list, but according to Gruenspecht the company has indicated that it intends to make some fuel available for sale in 2012. API is currently constructing a 1 MMgy wood-based facility in Alpena, Mich., and has stated that it plans to produce cellulosic ethanol and butanol.

Three of the producers named to the EPA’s list—cellulosic ethanol producers DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC and Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc. and renewable gasoline producer Terrabon Inc.—were omitted from the EIA’s list of anticipated producers. According to the EIA, DDCE is expected to focus its efforts in 2012 on its proposed commercial-scale facility in Iowa and won’t be making fuel produced at its Vonore, Tenn., demonstration-scale plant available in the marketplace. Fulcrum and Terrabon are not expected to have mechanically complete facilities by mid-2012 and therefore cannot be expected to produce fuel by the end of the year, according to the agency.

Gruenspecht said in the letter that the EIA’s predictions reflect the agency’s best judgment, but that they are still “inherently uncertain.” To illustrate the uncertainty of the agency’s projections, he pointed out that the EIA’s cellulosic biofuel estimate for 2011 was 3.94 million gallons, but that actual sales, if any, will be well below that estimate.

Since major re-construction began in theater in 2oo1, hundreds of projects have been installed in Afghanistan to a wide range of electrical standards.  Depending on several project variables, applied code standards include everything from fully compliant NEC 2008 installations, to no standards at all.  A shortage of qualified installation tradesmen and the logistics of obtaining compliant materials in theater have contributed to these issues.

In 2009, the US Government took the primary initiative in identifying electrical code and safety issues.  In a report by the US Inspector General’s Office entitled  ”Assessment of Electrical Installations in Afghanistan“, Task Force POWER (Protecting Our Warfighters and Energy Resources) and others in the command  investigated and made recommendations to the US CENTCOM on the subject.  Included in the recommendations was to create an authority to identify, assess and order corrections to non-code compliant  and hazardous installations.  The work of this authority continues to be a major priority of the command.

APS is proud to be a part of the concerted effort to protect our troops and allies serving downrange by ensuring that all support facilities are safe and functional to U.S. industry standards.

The Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA), a division of the US Department of Labor, regulates and is responsible for occupational safety programs and reporting in the surface and sub-surface mine industry.   The purpose of the MSHA is to prevent death, disease, and injury from mining and to promote safe and healthful workplaces for the Nation’s miners.  The rules and regulations set forth by MSHA are also extended to personnel, that may not be miners by trade, but are also working within the confines of a regulated facility.   This includes the execution of engineering field work.   APS maintains both MSHA Part 46 & Part 48 certifications, as well as certification from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals & Energy (DMME).

APS is proud of its certified employees and their dedication to safety in the workplace, especially when operating in client facilities.  Continuous improvement and training programs are in place to provide clients with the highly trained individuals they expect from APS.

Plans for a proposed cellulosic ethanol plant at Spiritwood, N.D., located near Jamestown in south-central portion of the state, have been revamped following the completion of a comprehensive feedstock supply and marketing study. The facility was originally planned to produce 20 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol but now is expected to be a hybrid plant, producing 50 MMgy of corn-based ethanol and 8 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol.

See the complete article here.

Contact Wayne Fuller @ (804) 518-4122 or Wayne.Fuller@APSengineers.com to discuss how this powerful project management system can add value to your project.

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Also be sure to visit the Procore™ web site at www.procore.com

Occupancy by three Afghan infantry battalions and ISAF mentors, to include US military personnel started last year and continues into 2011.  The deployment of  Afghan combat support and service units will bring the facility to its fully operational status.   ANA Gamberi is the feature story of the US Army Corps of Engineers Afghanistan Engineer District magazine from May of 2010.

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The entire article can be found at http://www.aed.usace.army.mil/FreedomBuilder/May-2010.pdf.

APS continues to provide daily technical support both the ANA Gamberi and ANA Kunduz projects, as well as other initiatives associated with reconstruction and capacity building focus in the country.

By PETER BACQUE | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: October 11, 2010

More than 800 public and private-sector leaders will come together to consider what Virginia’s energy future should be.

According to President Craig Stuart-Paul, Fiberight intends to integrate TMO’s proprietary TM242 strain of bacterium into its unique production process at its demonstration-scale MSW-to-ethanol plant in Blairstown, Iowa. Fiberight repurposed the 50,000-square-foot facility under its Fiberight-Blairstown Operating LLC name shortly after it was acquired in November 2009. The facility was originally a corn-based ethanol plant owned and operated by Xethanol LLC.

Initially, the Blairstown facility will use pulp and paper wastes sourced from a paper plant in Cedar Rapids as feedstock. Other industrial wastes and processed MSW from Fiberight’s operations in Lawrenceville, Va. will be integrated as feedstock at a later date.

Fiberight intends to scale-up to commercial production once demonstration scale evaluations are complete. Scale-up activities are expected to start during spring 2011, with commercial production anticipated by the end of 2011. At targeted full production, the Blairstown plant is expected produce 6 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol from approximately 350 tons of wastes per day, according to Stuart-Paul.

Prior to its agreement with TMO, Fiberight was awarded a $2.9 million grant by the Iowa Power Fund Board for the development of its Blairstown facility to reach commercial scale.

Fiberight uses a novel technology platform that fractionates industrial waste and other MSW material into a series of elements where it can then create a homogenous cellulosic pulp that’s comprised of approximately 80 percent C5 and C6 sugars, according to Stuart-Paul. The company has demonstrated the feasibility of this process at its pilot plant in Lawrenceville, Virginia for three years.

“It’s relatively low in hemicelluloses and very low in lignin, which we can then effectively convert that pulp into a prehydrolysis to get to oligomeric sugars,” Stuart-Paul said, adding that the process allows for the recycling and reuse of enzymes. “From there, we do a proprietary fermentation of the oligomeric sugars at 135 degrees Centigrade to get cellulosic ethanol.”

The hemicelluloses pulp, Stuart-Paul said, can be modified to produce cellulosic ethanol and a range of biochemicals such as d-lactic acid and succinates, though Stuart-Paul said that the company sees cellulosic ethanol being its core product in the short-term.

“If we have cheap cellulosic sugars, which is the bottom line of what we do, we’re going to be looking for the highest and best value pathway for those sugars and if that value pathway is to biochemicals in the future then that’s the way we’re going to go once we work out the technical issues,” he said.

Under terms of the agreement, Fiberight and TMO intend to jointly design and build 15 MSW-to-ethanol plants across the U.S. within the next five years, with a particular focus on municipalities that have high-stranded trash costs or landfill limitations. For each plant, TMO will receive an initial one-off design fee plus recurring annual revenue.