ZeaChem wraps up Oregon demo cellulosic ethanol refinery

Oct 29, 2012 - US cellulosic biorefinery developer ZeaChem said Monday that construction had been completed of its demonstration cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Oregon with an annual output of 250,000 gallons (946,000 litres).

The plant is expected to begin production by year-end.

The company put online in January the core facility at the Boardman plant to produce intermediate chemicals acetic acid and ethyl acetate. The biorefinery, or the second phase of the project which is backed by a USD-25-million (EUR 19m) grant from the US Department of Energy's Integrated Biorefinery programme, included the addition of process components making it possible to produce intermediate chemicals and ethanol from locally-sourced biomass, such as wood and wheat straw.

ZeaChem added that it had secured USD 25 million in fresh equity capital as part of a Series C financing that included lead investors Japanese trading company Itochu Corp (TYO:8001) and Australia-based investment bank Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG). ZeaChem is to use the funds to bring forward its business strategy and commercial deployment.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.775)

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