The award reflects the company’s satisfaction of all conditions of its grant for budget period 1 under the DOE’s Integrated Bio-refinery Grant Program. Budget period 2 is expected to start in the third quarter of this year.
The grant is expected to facilitate the integration of ClearFuels’ synthesis gas technology with Rentech’s Fisher-Tropsch process, with the goal of demonstrating flexible, low-cost production of certified, drop-in, renewable diesel and jet fuel from clean biomass at Rentech’s product demonstration unit in Commerce City, Colorado.
This joint demonstration of an integrated bio-refinery is anticipated to be completed in late 2011 and will lead to the final design basis for commercial facilities that are expected to use the combined technologies. ClearFuels has begun development of multiple commercial-scale biomass-to-energy projects in the southeastern US and Hawaii, the company said.
ClearFuels is focusing on the near term commercial production of renewable jet and diesel fuels with Rentech, which has a 25% strategic investment in ClearFuels. The company is also exploring renewable power opportunities.
