After receiving up to $80M in funding from the (DOE) Department of Energy, the Mascoma Corporation has teamed up with the DOE to bring a cellulosic ethanol facility to Kinross Michigan.  Mascoma is a company that deals with renewable fuels.  Attention to greener ways of a doing business, and transportation has been in the spotlight in the state of Michigan as of late.

The DOE has previously allotted around $20M for research and development behind the project which is expected to begin within the next three to six months.  If all goes as planned, the facility will be completed when the year 2013 comes to a close.

CBP Process Proprietary to Mascoma

The cellulosic ethanol facility will be focused on the conversion of hardwood pulpwood into the renewable fuel source; something that the company (Mascoma) has been working on for the past five years.  The process (proprietary) is known as CBP, or Consolidated Bioprocessing.  “When the microorganisms both produce the necessary saccharolytic enzymes and ferment the liberated sugars to end-products, the biomass conversion process is called consolidated bioprocessing (CBP).”

Back in 2006, the United States DOE viewed the technology as the ultimate low-cost configuration, and to this day we see Mascoma being fully supported through funding for their cutting-edge technology.  According to the press release, the Kinross Cellulosic Ethanol LLC will be a joint venture by Mascoma and Valero and will have a part in the operation as well as the development of the organization.  Valero will be picking up a part of the tab on any additional construction costs incurred above the funding by the DOE.  The other half will be supported by an allotment from the state of Michigan, in the form of a grant.

“This DOE award is a significant milestone for Mascoma, and the biofuels industry, as it completes the financing for the development and construction of a first-of-its-kind 20 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol facility in Kinross.  We are excited to apply our proprietary consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) technology platform to produce cellulosic ethanol on a commercial scale and thereby provide a low-cost, sustainable alternative to petroleum-based products,” said Mascoma’s President and CEO, Bill Brady.

The venture will be the first of its kind, and Michigan (Kinross) will be where it’s located; supporting the ever-challenging process of finding low cost sustainable fuel sources.  The hardwood pulpwood is an abundant resource in the surrounding area, making it ideal in the CBP process.