Web exclusive posted July 24, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. CST 
 
 The U.S. DOE recently selected start-up renewable diesel company Flambeau River BioFuels to receive up to $30 million in federal grants toward the construction and operation of its 6 MMgy renewable diesel biorefinery in Park Falls, Wis. 
 
 Flambeau River BioFuels President Bob Byrne said his company will meet with the DOE next week to negotiate the final award, but added that of the $40 million being granted by the DOE, Flambeau River BioFuels applied for $30 million and the other selected company, Verenium Corp., applied for $10 million.
 
 The grants were awarded as part of the Bush administration's plan to meet required cellulosic fuel goals by 2012. So far this year, the DOE has given over $240 million to nine biorefinery projects, including the Verenium and Flambeau River Biofuels projects. Funding will be dispersed over a five-year period.
 

 According to Byrne, Flambeau River Biofuels was created a year ago by Flambeau River Papers. The biorefinery will be colocated with the Flambeau River Papers pulp and paper mill in Park Falls, Wis. Byrne said the mill had operated continuously for 100 years before going bankrupt and abruptly closing in 2006, leaving 300 people unemployed. The new owner, William "Butch" Johnson, restarted mill operations with the assistance of state funding and almost immediately began work on a renewable fuel plant to be located on the same grounds as the paper mill.
 
 Initially, a plan was in the works to colocate a cellulosic ethanol facility with the paper mill, but Byrne said the project became uneconomical due to skyrocketing steel prices and the properties of the dissolving pulp the company planned to use as feedstock were not equal to comparable softwood craft pulp. The project was shelved and the company began to focus on renewable diesel instead. The decision has, so far, proved to be a good one. 
 
 "This grant will help meet our government's goals of creating new jobs, stimulating remote areas, re-positioning traditional industries for a new world era, and, most importantly, producing clean fuels from renewable resources abundantly found in the U.S.," Byrne said. "We are proud to be a part of this important initiative by taking a leading position in the advancement of bioenergy technologies and the development of cellulosic biofuels."
 
 Flambeau River Biofuels' biorefinery will utilize the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert woody biomass into sulfur-free renewable diesel. Byrne said the process will result in three products – boiler fuel, sulfur-free diesel, and paraffinic waxes, which Byrne said the company hopes to sell into the wax market. However, he said the company's long-term options include breaking down the paraffinic waxes into renewable diesel if they choose to do so. Energy produced will add additional revenue possibilities to the biorefinery. Steam produced will be exported to the paper mill and used at a lesser cost than the natural gas-produced steam currently in use at the facility. Byrne said the electricity may also be exported to the paper mill, but because the Fischer-Tropsch process is so energy intensive, the biorefinery may use all the electricity it generates.
 
 Byrne said Flambeau River BioFuels is finalizing its supply and offtake agreements and has secured financing from Citi Global Markets Inc., a division of Citigroup Inc. He expects construction to begin by the end of the year; however the estimated 6 MMgy project has still yet-to-be finalized. "We think there is low risk to increase the project size," Byrne said, adding that the Fischer-Tropsch process has been used since the 1920s and the notion of gasifying woody biomass has been around for many more years than that. "Putting all this together is novel," he said. Byrne would like to make the demonstration biorefinery as large as possible so as to make it commercially viable. He said Flambeau River BioFuels plans to discuss the project expansion with the DOE. The biorefinery is expected to begin production in 2010.

Flambeau River Biofuels receives DOE grant

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Flambeau River Biofuels receives DOE grant.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Upcoming Events

2026 International Biomass Conference & Expo

Carbon Capture & Storage Summit

International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

Sustainable Fuels Summit: SAF, Renewable Diesel and Biodiesel

Flambeau River Biofuels receives DOE grant