Dec 9 2009
Archer Daniels Midland Company has received $24.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and build a manufacturing facility that will produce renewable fuel from biomass. The ADM Advanced Biorefinery project will manufacture ethanol fuel and ethyl acrylate compound that is used to manufacture a range of materials including plastics, coatings, and adhesives. This project is one among 19 biofuel projects to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Pretreatment technology to start biomass breakdown will also be used by ADM to commercialize biocrude. This renewable product can be refined by existing refineries into transportation fuels.
Dr. Todd Werpy, Vice President, Biofuels and Biochemical Research, said that this funding from the U.S. Government will reduce the financial risks related to this kind of cutting-edge technology research and help the company to speed up the development and bring down the commercialization time by two years.
Todd Werpy said that this project shows ADM’s commitment to achieve the goals of the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. He commented that the only alternative transportation fuel is biofuels which is available widely.
ADM has an ongoing biofuel research including development of collection process of biomass and this project is in line with their initiative. ADM is in partnership with Deere & Company and Monsanto Company for the development of sustainable collection of biomass. The companies are collaborating to identify sustainable methods to harvest, storage, and transport of corn stover.
Todd Werpy said that demand for energy and food will go up as the world population increases and farmers can use non-food feedstocks for energy and feed to create renewable solutions. He added that farmers can optimize the production from their land by creating energy products and biofuels from biomass.
Source: www.adm.com