Switchgrass Venture in Missouri Announced.

The National Biomass Producers Association confirmed today that it is partnering with Renewable Oil International to convert non-grain biomass into fuel for transportation and power production. Ed Cahoj, president of NBPA, said, "We’re excited to announce that ROI is our technology partner." NBPA is a Missouri-based non-profit organization of farmers and investors interested in producing fuel from cellulosic feedstocks such as switchgrass. "The ROI expertise brings great credibility to our initiatives and signals that NBPA is a serious player in the developing biofuels industry."
Together, ROI and NBPA will help build portable processors to be hauled on a truck or trailer that can be taken to a farmer’s field where it will convert locally produced biomass into biofuel.
Phillip Badger, president of ROI, said, "This method of operation mitigates transportation of low-density feedstocks and allows each ROI processor to become a renewable oil well. Fuel can readily be produced locally." NBPA will soon take a portable unit on the road for demonstrations.
ROI technology involves fast pyrolysis distillation that accommodates nearly any organic material, including grass, hay, straw, wood, municipal solid waste, and manure. It can operate some combustion turbines and internal combustion engines. Slow or medium diesel engines can use it with minor modifications. "Eventually, a farmer will be able to harvest switchgrass, produce fuel for his farming operation, and sell the excess to a local utility or other users," said Cahoj.
Fast pyrolysis has many advantages, including the production of biochar, a co-product found to be an extremely useful soil amendment that also sequesters CO2 in the soil for hundreds of years, making the process truly carbon negative. Unlike ethanol production, fast pyrolysis does not require water, does not require a boiler, can be cost-effective on a relatively small scale, and can use a wide variety of feedstocks.
Cahoj encourages feedstock producers everywhere to explore the ROI technology. He notes that the ROI recently received funding from the US Department of Energy to upgrade bio-oil into a transportation fuel. A DOE study found that current petroleum refineries could upgrade bio-oil cost-effectively without subsidies under current market conditions. "As our membership expands, we can invest in more processors and further promote switchgrass as a new crop that provides an additional revenue stream for farmers and ranchers," Cahoj said.
For more information, contact:
Ed Cahoj at (417) 445-3776 or (417) 293-3068, ecahoj@earthlink.net, www.biomassproducers.org.
Phil Badger, (256) 740-5634, pbadger@renewableoil.com, www.renewableoil.com.