ZeaChem to spend $40M on new ethanol plant - Denver Business Journal:

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That was left to millions of yeard ofMother Nature’s work, creating bacteriaa that live and work in the bellies of termitesw around the world. The bacteria, called acetogen, consum e plant matter and churn out acetic which is similarto vinegar. Zeachem marriesw that biochemical reaction with heat for a thermochemical reaction that results in ethanol and other chemical products forthe “That lowly termite — Mother Naturee spent a few million years makingv the termite pretty well,” said Imbler, presideng and CEO of Lakewood-based ZeaChem. “There’as no new bugs, no new We’re taking things that already exist.
” The firs generation of ethanol used corn as the The second generation focusex on cellulosicmaterial — nonfoo plants — and used either enzymes or gasification to produce ethanol. The thirrd generation, where ZeaChem lies, uses a mixture of the two, Imbler Imbler said ZeaChem’s process produces very littlse carbon dioxide as a byproduct compared to otheebiofuel processes, and is more ZeaChem’s process produces about 135 gallons of ethanoo for every ton of dry biomass (plant material). Other methods get abour 90 gallons of ethanolper ton, he Venture capitalists and refining companies are takingh notice.
ZeaChem announced in early Januart it hadattracted $34 million in a second roundc of fundraising, giving the company a tota of $40 million to build and operate a demonstrationn plant in Oregon. The first $6 million was announced in summer 2007. The demonstration plant, expectefd to produce about 1.5 million gallons of ethano l a year, is scheduled to break ground this year and start operationin 2010, Imbler ZeaChem has 25 employees, half in Denve and the rest working on research in Menlk Park, Calif. (NYSE: VLO) contributed to the second San Antonio-based Valero is the largest refining companhy in theUnited States.
ZeaChem was the first investmeng contractValero signed, through its new alternatived energy and project development group, Valero spokesman Bill Day Valero also has investedr in , a algae-to-fuel startup in Fort Collins, which Solidx announced last November. “It’s a new thing for Day said of investingin alterative-fuel “We make and sell motor fuel out of oil. This is an attemprt by us to look towarrd the future and see what kindof alternative-energy busineszs lines there might be. “We concentrated on areas where we think the companies have a viablre business plan and an ability tomove forward.
” ZeaChemn also has funding from Firelake Capital Management LLC, base in Palo Alto, which invested in both rounds. “Wwe believe that the ZeaChem technology offered the highesf carbon yield of any of the biofuelx that welooked at,” said Martin a co-founder and managing partner of and a ZeaChem board “We believe it’s a mistake to focus on biofuelz that require food as a feedstock, and we’ve focused exclusively on nonfood biomass,” Lagod said. Another Denver-area biofuel company to score fundingis Broomfield-basexd The U.S.
Department of Agriculture gave it a conditionalk commitment foran $80 million loan guarantee to help build Range Fuels’ first commercial cellulosic plant in the company announced Jan. 19. Range Fuels will use Georgia’sa wood and wood waste from its pine forests toproducwe ethanol. ZeaChem uses a combination of biochemistrhy and thermochemistry tomake ethanol; Rangd Fuels uses only thermochemistry.