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Cool Planet Energy Systems will open their first commercial biorefinery in Alexandria, Louisiana. The facility on the Port of Alexandria in Rapides Parish will serve as a showcase facility leading the way for Cool Planet to build similar facilities across the United States. Construction on the facility is expected to be complete before the end of 2014. Cool Planet is a developer of small scale biorefineries which convert non-food biomass into gasoline, jet fuel and soil enhancing biochar. “Louisiana is known for its substantial oil interests, but now will also have the distinction of being home to the first, of what is planned to become many, production facilities for Cool Planet’s renewable, high-performance gasoline and soil enhancing biochar,” said chief executive officer Howard Janzen. “Our goal for the Alexandria facility is to be economically competitive with conventional fuels made from non-renewable crude oil.” Alexandria was chosen as the site of their first commercial biorefinery due to the support shown by the city of Alexandria and the economic development team from the state of Louisiana. The location also provides access to an abundance of renewable biomass feedstock as well as easy access to barges, rail lines and trucks by which the biomass based products can be distributed. It is believed that the Cool Planet facility will have one of the lowest capital costs per plant in the refining industry, with project economics that work at facilities that are a 100 times smaller then conventional refineries as well as the ability to use a wide variety of biomass materials as inputs. Cool Planet processes biomass through a mechanical biomass fractionating system that uses pressure and heat to create a series of useful volatile components that then go through proprietary catalytic systems to make fuel and biochar. Cool Planet’s technology has attracted investors such as include General Electric, Google Ventures, BP, ConocoPhillips, NRG and the Constellation Energy division of Excelon. – EcoSeed Staff Continue reading →