Methanol milestone for delayed Georgia biofuel project

August 18, 2010

Cellulosic biofuel developer Range Fuels, Inc., said yesterday it has now produced methanol from the initial phase of its first commercial plant, in Georgia.

The company said it used non-food biomass to produce the cellulosic methanol at its facility near Soperton, and is soon to start work on ethanol production.

Range Fuels, which has its headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado, has been supported by tens of millions of federal funding in its pursuit of a commercial cellulosic biodiesel plant, but has been dogged by delays and problems.

Its technology involves a two-step process using gasification to convert woody biomass or grasses into a “synthetic” gas comprising mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide, along with a catalysis system to convert the gas into a liquid methanol.

This methanol could then be converted to a biodiesel fuel, but the company is intending to use its process to produce ethanol.

Despite the company’s problems, as documented earlier this year by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it said yesterday that it plans to begin ethanol production at the Soperton plant in the third quarter of this year.

Feedstocks

The plant will initially use wood material from nearby timber industry sources, but Range Fuels intends to experiment with other feedstocks including miscanthus and switchgrass.

It said capacity would be expanded to 60 million gallons per year following construction starting next summer. The plant is allowed to produce up to 100 million gallons of ethanol and methanol each year.

David Aldous, Range Fuels’ President and CEO, said: “This milestone is a giant step in overcoming the technological and financing challenges facing the commercialization of cellulosic biofuels and positions us extremely well to expand production of cellulosic biofuels.

“Additionally, with the first U.S. commercial production of cellulosic biofuels from non-food biomass, Range Fuels has taken a giant step in delivering on its vision of offering solutions to the pressing global challenges of energy independence, the environment, and the economy,” added Mr Aldous.