ETHANOL INVESTS IN CELLULOSIC

If there is any real future for ethanol, it will be in cellulosic processes like the SunEthanol one VeraSun is buying with this investment.

VeraSun Energy Invests in Cellulosic Ethanol Technology Company
August 15, 2007 (PR Newswire via Finanz Nachrichten)

WHO
VeraSun Energy Corporation (Bill Honnef, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing), SunEthanol (Dr. Susan Leschine, company founder/Chief Scientist, Jef Sharp, CEO), Battery Ventures

Schematic representing the dream of a one-step catalytic process moving cellulosic biomass to liquid fuel. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
VeraSun has made a minority investment in SunEthanol to commericalize cellulosic ethanol production. Battery Ventures has also invested in SunEthanol.

WHEN
Investments are recent. VeraSun will have production capacity of one billion gallons/year by the end of 2008.

WHERE
- SunEthanol is based in Amherst, Massachusetts.
- VeraSun is based in Brookings, South Dakota
- VeraSun has 3 operating ethanol production facilities (Aurora, SD, Fort Dodge, IA, and Charles City, IA) and 3 under construction (Hartley, IA, Welcome, MN and Reynolds, IN.) It is also in the process of acquiring 3 biorefineries under construction (Albion, NE, Bloomingburg, OH and Linden, IN.)

WHY
- SunEthanol’s proprietary celulosic production technology consolidates multiple steps into one in which a variety of agricultural feed stocks naturally process into ethanol. This would potentially reduce the cost of the most expensive step in biomass-to-ethanol processing.
- VeraSun will also extract oil from dried distillers grains (co-product of the ethanol process) for biodiesel production. It markets E85 under the brand VE85(TM).

A conceptual roadmap. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Honnef: "SunEthanol has unique technology that if proven to be commercially feasible will be a positive step forward for cellulosic ethanol…While we believe corn-based ethanol production will continue to play a key role in our industry long into the future, ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks will complement corn- based ethanol in meeting the growing global demand for renewable fuels. We continue to evaluate technologies that have the potential to efficiently convert cellulose to biofuels."
- Sharp: "We are delighted to have one of the nation's leading producers of ethanol as an investor…Together, we hope to help shape the nation's cellulosic ethanol future. We believe there are strong synergies between our two organizations that will enable us to accelerate the pace of commercialization of this new technology."