“President Obama has laid out a new era for American energy, an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources that will be designed and produced by American workers,” said Vilsack. “These programs support that vision by helping biorefineries use renewable biomass as a replacement fuel source for fossil fuels and supporting advanced biofuel producers as they expand production.”

The Repowering Assistance Program provides approximately $25 million in funding to biorefineries that have been in existence on or before June 18, 2008. The purpose of the program is to provide a financial incentive to biorefineries to use renewable biomass in place of fossil fuels used to produce heat or power. By providing this assistance, USDA is helping these facilities install new systems that use renewable biomass.

The amount of the payment will be based on the cost effectiveness of the renewable biomass system and the percentage reduction in fossil fuels used by that biorefinery. The maximum amount an individual biorefinery can receive under the Notice is 50% of total eligible project costs up to a maximum of $10 million.

Eligible costs must be related to construction or repowering improvements, such as engineering design, equipment installation and professional fees. The application deadline for this program to receive funds for Fiscal Year 2012 is June 1, 2012.

“Advanced biofuels are critical to securing America’s energy future,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This project, and others like it will help establish a domestic advanced biofuel industry that will create jobs here at home and open new markets in the Pacific Northwest and across America.”

Development of the first commercial biorefinery is already underway. The facility is expected to have capacity of 25 million or more gallons-per-year (GPY). It will be located at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Ore., adjacent to ZeaChem’s 250,000 GPY integrated demonstration biorefinery. ZeaChem has agreements for 100% of the facility’s woody biomass feedstock from the nearby GreenWood Tree Farm Fund (GTFF), managed by GreenWood Resources (GWR), as well as from local agricultural residue processors.

ZeaChem’s first commercial facility will create 188 direct construction jobs and 65 full-time operations jobs, plus an additional 242 indirect jobs for construction and full-time operations.

“The USDA loan guarantee is a significant validation for ZeaChem’s highly efficient, economical and flexible biorefinery technology,” said Jim Imbler, president and chief executive officer of ZeaChem. “This commitment allows us to move forward with securing financing, beginning construction, creating jobs in the community, and producing economical and sustainable products for the fuel and chemical industries.”

“As part of its long-term environmental sustainability vision, P&G is committed to using 100% sustainably sourced renewable or recycled materials for all products and packaging,” said Len Sauers, P&G’s vice president for global sustainability. “Novel innovations from our suppliers, such as ZeaChem’s unique process to create bio-based chemicals, are critical to us achieving this vision.”

“We’re very pleased to partner with Procter & Gamble, a global leader in consumer products and sustainable operations,” said Jim Imbler, president and CEO of ZeaChem. “This definitive agreement will accelerate the time to market for our new product platform and the commercial production of economical and sustainable biofuels and bio-based chemicals using ZeaChem’s highly efficient technology.”

ZeaChem’s process uses renewable feedstocks such as poplar trees and agricultural residues to produce the highest yield and lowest carbon emissions of any known biorefining technology. The company has begun fermentation work on this new product platform using the same processes and equipment that the company used to prove and scale up its C2 product platform. The new platform also enables ZeaChem to ultimately deploy its technology for the production of other bio-based chemicals as well as drop-in fuels.

The two companies will utilize ZeaChem’s existing infrastructure at its lab in Menlo Park, Calif., pilot facility at Hazen Research in Golden, Colo., and demonstration-scale biorefinery in Boardman, Ore. Together, P&G and ZeaChem will research, develop and demonstrate, scale-up, and commercialize this new product platform.

“Biofuels are just one part of DP&L’s strategy to incorporate renewable energy resources into our generation portfolio,” said Paul Barbas, DPL president and chief executive officer. “We continue to seek environmentally responsible and cost-effective ways to comply with legislative requirements and meet our customers’ energy needs.”

DP&L plans to purchase a maximum of 15,000 tons of biomass fuels by the end of 2009 and a maximum of 100,000 tons in the following five years, in keeping with Ohio energy legislation, Ohio Amended Substitute Senate Bill 221. All biofuel products submitted must meet the requirements set forth by the Ohio Revised Code and as defined in the RFP.

All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be received by DP&L no later than July 10, 2009. A link to the RFP appears at the bottom of the DPL Inc. website.