Chemtex and Murphy-Brown Announce Long Term Biomass Supply Agreement

In North Carolina, Chemtex and Murphy Brown signed a long term agreement for the supply of purpose grown energy crops and residues to be used as cellulosic feedstock in Project Alpha, Chemtex’s Cellulosic Ethanol facility planned for Clinton, North Carolina. The agreement covers a number of feedstocks to be grown on approximately six thousand acres of land owned or controlled by Murphy Brown. The proposed crops will be grown on acreage that is not typically used for grain production and will represent the backbone of the supply chain for the planned Chemtex biorefinery. Final execution of the agreement is contingent upon achieving financial closure for the project.

Although the agreement represents a substantial portion of the feedstock required to operate the facility, additional acreage will be contracted in the coming months. A significant part of the supply chain will be met through the use of new cellulosic ethanol feedstocks recently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Senator Kay Hagan and Representative’s G.K. Butterfield and Mike McIntyre were instrumental in getting the administration to work with the federal resource agencies on establishing a pathway for their approval.

Project Alpha will produce twenty million gallons of environmentally friendlier cellulosic ethanol annually using Beta Renewables’ PROESA Technology.