US-based renewable fuel company Kior has shipped the first batch of cellulosic diesel produced from its commercial-scale facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
The Columbus facility is the company’s first commercial-scale production facility and employs pine wood chips as feedstock.
Commenting on the developments Kior president and CEO Fred Cannon stated that the first shipment of its production marks a major milestone for the company the biofuels industry and the entire renewable fuels sector.
"With first production at Columbus, KiOR has technology with the potential to resurrect each and every shut down paper mill in the country and to replace imported oil on a cost effective basis while creating American jobs," added Cannon.
The company also stated that the hydro-carbon fuels manufactured at its facility are derived from non-food feedstocks to cut down dependency on human food needs.
"The technology is simply scalable and we believe sufficient excess feedstock exists in the Southeast alone to build almost fifty KiOR commercial scale facilities," concluded Cannon.