ZeaChem has signed a long-term binding agreement with GreenWood Tree Farm Fund (GTFF) to supply hybrid poplar woody biomass for its commercial cellulosic biorefinery in the US state of Oregon.
The company will integrate feedstock from a portion of GTFF’s residual fiber with local agricultural residue suppliers to achieve feedstock costs 50% less compared to Brazilian sugar cane and 80% less compared to corn based processes.
As per the term sheet, GTFF will be the primary feedstock supplier of cellulosic biomass from its existing poplar plantations to ZeaChem’s biorefinery, which is expected to have capacity of 25m gallons per year and to be located in Boardman, Oregon.
The company said it has secured 100% of the feedstock supply for the first commercial biorefinery through the combination of forest and agricultural residuals.
The company is currently constructing a 250,000 gallons per year demonstration-scale biorefinery in Boardman, and the facility will begin to come online in this year.
GTFF is managed by GreenWood Resources, a timberland investment and property management company engaged in the acquisition, development and management of high-yield, short-rotation, sustainable tree farms.
US-based ZeaChem is a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals.