Ceres has said that the biorefinery project which will include participation from academic institutions, government and other technology providers, will produce fuel, known as cellulosic biofuel, from biomass rather than corn.
The US Department of Energy officials have announced up to $30 million in supplemental funding for the planned facility.
Ceres’s primary role will be to supply seed of specially developed energy crop cultivars to nearby farmers, who will grow the plants and harvest the biomass.
The company will also provide agronomic recommendations to the overall venture, which will compare numerous raw materials, including Ceres’s dedicated energy crops, for their conversion efficiency and fuel yields, as well as their economic viability.
Richard Hamilton, CEO of Ceres, said: We are pleased that ICM chose Ceres as a seed provider for the dedicated energy crops they needed. They have been a clear leader in optimizing the starch-to-ethanol process, and we believe they are well prepared to make next-generation biofuels competitive with starch ethanol and petroleum.
