California company claims biomass to gasoline breakthrough

Western Farm Press
Feb. 24, 2012 10:04am

A California company announced it has made a major breakthrough in converting biomass to gasoline. Cool Planet BioFuels achieved 4,000 gallons per acre biomass to gasoline conversion in pilot testing using giant miscanthus, an advanced bioenergy crop.

Cool Planet BioFuels, Camarilla, Calif., announced that it has made a major breakthrough in converting biomass to gasoline. The Company achieved 4,000 gallons/acre biomass to gasoline conversion in pilot testing using giant miscanthus, an advanced bioenergy crop.

Gasoline has about one and a half times the energy of ethanol, so this is about twelve times more yield than current corn ethanol production levels.

The giant miscanthus was developed at the University of Mississippi and provided from a high yield plot by Repreve Renewables. Other advanced bio-energy crops, such as sorghum and switch grass, can provide similar annual yields using this new process.

"These test results are based on nearly optimal crop growth conditions and demonstrate what is possible in a good growing season. Under more routine growing conditions, we estimate yields of about 3,000 gallons/acre should be achievable throughout the Midwest by selecting the proper energy crop for local conditions," says Mike Cheiky, Cool Planet's founder and CEO.

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