LS9 Purchases Production Facility to Retrofit for Microbial Biomass to Diesel Commercial Demo

GreenCarCongressLS9 is eager to press its novel E. Coli to biomass to biodiesel operation into commercial service. To facilitate that goal, LS9 has acquired a Florida production plant for custom retrofit. Once the company proves its process at commercial scales, the impact of its bioenergy products on the marketplace should be prompt.

LS9, a synthetic biology company developing fermentation-derived drop-in renewable fuels and chemicals (earlier post), has acquired an existing production facility in Okeechobee, Florida. LS9 will retrofit the facility to accommodate its proprietary one-step fermentation process.

The new “Renewable Petroleum Facility” (RPF) is designed to enable the production of 50,000-100,000 gallons of UltraClean Diesel by late 2010—a level of production that will validate the commercial viability of its UltraClean Diesel technology, according to the company. Once the demonstration scale testing is completed, LS9 expects to quickly transition the facility into commercial production. _GCC

In other bioenergy news, Bye Energy has acquired Novare Biofuels in order to begin the thermochemical production of aviation gasoline and jet fuel from biomass.

Michigan State University is researching the conversion of non-food sources such as straw, grass, and wood chips for producing biofuels.

The Biomass Trade & Power conference, which meets in Rotterdam on 11-12 March 2010 analyzes latest developments in BioEnergy, tackles issues hampering the establishment of a biomass-trading platform, and discusses the future of a real commodity market for biomass.

Biofuels and bioenergy are key technologies for moving away from imported fossil fuels and moving toward local and regional growth and processing of local and regional energy sources. It is the emphasis upon local and regional production and refinement -- as well as utilisation -- which sets bioenergy apart from more concentrated sources of fuels and energy.