As reported in Post-Mortem: Range Fuels Sputters to the Auction Block, the sale of Range Fuel’s assets was arranged after the Department of Agriculture (USDA) rejected a deal that would allow the company to transfer its debt obligations as well as its facility and equipment to LanzaTech.

It turns out the New Zealand-based company, which has developed a proprietary gas-liquid fermentation process to produce fuels and chemicals, found a much less expensive way to acquire Range’s assets. On January 3, 2012, they purchased the Soperton, Georgia facility for $5.1 million. Under the name Freedom Pines Biorefinery, the Soperton plant will be LanzaTech’s first production facility.

According to LanzaTech’s website, the company will “leverage some of the existing technology at the facility alongside it’s own proprietary technology to produce clean, renewable and domestic fuels and chemicals from the bountiful waste biomass in the region.”

From Forest2Market: http://blog.forest2market.com/2012/02/29/lanzatech/?utm_source=Forest2Fuel+Newsletter_April+2012&utm_campaign=Forest2Market+Newsletter+-+February+2012&utm_medium=email

The projects funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI), a joint program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Energy Department (DOE), will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass and increase the availability of renewable fuels and biobased products that can help replace the need for gasoline and diesel in vehicles and diversify our energy portfolio. These investments will help cut America’s oil imports, develop clean alternative energy technologies, and protect American families and businesses from the ups and downs of the global oil market.

“USDA’s partnership with the Department of Energy aims to improve our country’s energy security and provide sustainable jobs in communities across the country,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This funding represents the kind of innovation we need to build American-made, homegrown biofuels and biobased products that will help to break our dependence on foreign oil and move our nation toward a clean energy economy.”

“President Obama called for an all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy and advances technologies that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save money for American consumers,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Investing in next-generation biofuels helps boost the competitiveness of the U.S. biofuels industry, supports economic development in rural communities, and creates skilled jobs for American workers.”

The initiatives supported a range of renewable energy sources, and the most commonly supported sources were bioenergy, solar, and wind. Also, the initiatives supported a range of public and private sector recipients, but the large majority provided support to the private sector. Many initiatives supported multiple renewable energy sources and types of recipients, while many others targeted support to one source or recipient. Agencies’ renewable energy efforts increased in recent years as a result of the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other factors, but the level of future efforts is less certain with the expiration of these provisions and budget constraints.

Across agencies, more than 80% of initiatives span four key federal roles: supporting research and development, using renewable energy in vehicle fleets and facilities, providing incentives for commercialization and deployment, and regulation, permitting, and ensuring compliance. Certain agencies led efforts in each federal role: DOE, DOD, and USDA for research and development; DOD, the General Services Administration, and DOE for fleets and facilities; Treasury and USDA for commercialization and deployment; and Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency for regulation, permitting, and compliance.

The nation’s reliance on imported oil, rising energy costs, and fossil fuels’ potential contribution to climate change have renewed the federal focus on renewable energy. Many federal agencies support renewable energy activities, raising congressional concerns about the number and roles of agencies implementing such efforts.

“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.”

LanzaTech is developing a process that uses proprietary microorganisms to convert carbon monoxide-containing gases from steel mills, oil refineries and chemical plants into ethanol and biochemicals. It is also working with the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) on making jet fuel.

Located in Soperton, Ga., the Range plant was sold January 3 for $5.1 million, a fraction of the financial support it received. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture required a foreclosure sale following Range’s default in 2011 on an $80 million loan guarantee the agency offered. The plant was also supported by more than $160 million in venture funding and part of a separate $76 million grant the DOE awarded.

Range Fuels, who broke ground on the Georgia plant in November 2007, had received a $76 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as an $80 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in early 2009. The company received only portions of the funds, Bloomberg reported. Both federal commitments were made through an initiative under the administration of former President George W. Bush to find alternatives to corn as a raw material to make ethanol fuels.

Range Fuels had hoped to produce 100 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol from wood chips each year at the biorefinery, but the plant closed in January of this year due to technical problems. About 30 workers were laid off in the shutdown, the Macon Telegraph reports.

The Bioenergy and Sustainable Technology (BST) graduate certificate program was developed with the support of a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant. The USDA recognized that expanding industries that utilize renewable feedstocks, and convert them to fuels and other needed products, will require a workforce with education that is relevant to these emerging areas.

The new program involves curriculum from SDSU as well as Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas. The universities are collaborating through a framework called Ag IDEA, an affiliate of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GP IDEA).

The program curriculum has three areas of specialization for students to choose from: Feedstocks, Conversions, or Sustainability.

The NARA members include scientists from the Forest Service and other government laboratories, public universities, and private industry throughout the northwest. Four teams will conduct research on feedstocks, conversion, systems metrics, and education and outreach.

The teams plan to identify communities in each of the four states that comprise the NARA project (Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington) for possible development of biorefineries, and will serve as a conduit between researchers and community stakeholders, helping to transfer the science and technology of biofuels and important co-products to economic development in northwest communities.

The NARA will be conducting traditional extension activities, including providing workshops, webinars, and newsletters, with the aim of helping communities and companies throughout the Pacific Northwest determine their role in building a sustainable biofuels infrastructure and moving toward the establishment of a biofuels-based economy, while at the same time forming regional alliances and identifying communities that might fit into the supply chain.

“This project is important because it provides a perfect opportunity to address several critical issues, from decreasing the nation’s dependency on petroleum products to promoting resiliency and economic stability in forest-based communities,” commented Eini Lowell, a research forest products technologist at the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station.

These projects utilize processed woody biomass removed from forests during projects such as wildfire prevention to produce green energy for heating and electricity. The funds from the grants will be used to further the planning of building and operating bioenergy facilities by funding the necessary engineering services for final design, permitting and cost analysis.

The 17 recipients, chosen from 34 applications, were required to provide at least 20% of their total project cost. The grant program helps recipients complete the necessary design work needed to secure public or private investment for such projects as the engineering design of a woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill, a non-pressurized hot water system for a hospital or school, or a biomass-power generation facility.

“Biomass is a vital part of America’s clean energy future as we work to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Projects like these will help grow regional economies, create new jobs, and improve and protect our environment. We will need architects and engineers to design these plants, skilled laborers to build them and well-trained technicians to operate them,” commented Vilsack.