North Dakota straw to fuel California cars with NewEnergyBlue’s groundbreaking

September 25, 2018 |

In Massachusetts, NewEnergyBlue is about six months away from breaking ground on a renewable fuel refinery that is forecast to turn 280,000 tons of North Dakota wheat straw into 16-million gallons a year of some of the lowest carbon auto fuel selling in California. The refinery is expected to produce not only cellulosic ethanol capable of exceeding California’s rigorous air-quality standards, but also clean lignin—without using any fresh water in our designed process.

“It’s no secret that clean energy producers covet the state’s monster fuel market,” says Thomas Corle, Blue’s CEO. “Carbon is the California regulator’s primary yardstick. The policy goal of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is shrinking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing fossil carbons in transportation fuels. Traditional grain ethanol is rated 20%-30% below the carbon baseline of gasoline. But with our process design, cellulosic ethanol can achieve 130% below gasoline’s baseline. The project gets paid on every ton of fossil carbon saved.”

Stephan Rogers, President of NewEnergyBlue and former head of Qteros, said, “We expect to finalize the $170 million financing and are shooting for steel in the ground by spring 2019.”

Category: Fuels

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