VISALIA, CA--June 26, 2012: Edeniq, a biomaterials and sustainable fuels company, today hosted an event to officially launch their Corn to Cellulosic Migration (CCM) pilot biorefinery. The biorefinery utilizes Edeniq's patented technologies including the Cellunatorā„¢, a mechanical pretreatment milling device that grinds plant materials into uniform particles, an advanced enzyme system that converts cellulose and hemicellulose to sugars, and proprietary yeasts to ferment the sugars to ethanol. The CCM biorefinery is located at Edeniq's headquarters in Visalia, California. The pilot plant's technologies being demonstrated here can be used as bolt-on technology to existing facilities, which would allow for the successful migration and innovation of billions of dollars of capital deployed in today's ethanol industry to the cost-effective deployment of sustainable feedstocks such as corn stover, switchgrass, sugarcane bagasse, and woodchips.
“We are working towards this goal by demonstrating, in our pilot plant, advanced technologies and methods to convert non-food cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol in an economically and environmentally compelling way.”
The plant was constructed in partnership with Logos Technologies Inc. under a $25 million program funded 80% by the Integrated Biorefinery Initiative Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. The pilot plant has the capacity to convert two dry tons per day of feedstock into cellulosic sugars and 50,000 gallons per year cellulosic ethanol. According to the Department of Energy, ethanol produced from cellulosic materials has the potential to cut life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 86% relative to gasoline.
"Reducing our dependency on foreign oil with minimal effect on the environment is a goal that Edeniq shares with all Americans," said Brian Thome, President and CEO of Edeniq. "We are working towards this goal by demonstrating, in our pilot plant, advanced technologies and methods to convert non-food cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol in an economically and environmentally compelling way."
The ethanol process equipment for the pilot plant was skid mounted and shop manufactured in Michigan and then shipped to California for assembling into the integrated plant. Edeniq is gathering metrics from the pilot plant for construction and scale-up opportunities at commercial-sized facilities.
With a new logo and website, Edeniq is celebrating the launch of the pilot plant with an industry event today at the company's headquarters in Visalia, California. The invitation-only event will include a ribbon cutting and a speech on The State of the Biofuels Industry from Mackinnon Lawrence of Pike Research. A panel on The Future of Sustainable Fuels will feature a conversation with Brian Thome from Edeniq; California Energy Commission Deputy Director, Pat Perez; Glenda Humiston, Director of the USDA's State Rural Development Office; and, John Rockwell from the venture community. The panel is discussing the partnerships needed between funding, public and private sectors to most effectively establish a successful biofuel future. The panel will be moderated by Heather Youngs, Analyst with the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.
A customer panel, "Yields from the Fields," moderated by the Renewable Fuels Association's chief of staff Matt Hartwig, will feature Edeniq customers Jeff Miano from Flint Hills Resources and Eamonn Byrne from Plymouth Energy, and will explore the impacts of Edeniq's technologies on U.S. biorefinery assets.
About Edeniq, Inc.
Edeniq integrates patented mechanical and biological processes to efficiently and cost-effectively break down plant material into sugars that become sustainable fuels and/or industrial materials. Edeniq's patent portfolio includes innovation in biological catalysts plus mechanical processes that helps meet the industry-wide challenge of taking today's plant-based resources into future markets and applications. Headquartered in Visalia, CA, with locations in Omaha, Nebraska and the state of Sao Paolo in Brazil, Edeniq is funded by such leading investors as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Flint Hills Resources Renewables, The Westly Group and Cyrus Capital.
