Date: November 12, 2012
Source: KiOR, Inc.
Biofuel company KiOR (Pasadena, TX) has begun producing biocrude at its $200 million plant in Columbus, MS which will ultimately convert 500 tons of biomass per day into 11 million gallons of oil annually. The company has signed agreements with FedEx, Hunt Refining Company, and Catchlight Energy LLC which will buy oil produced at the plant. Catchlight Energy LLC, a 50-50 joint venture between subsidiaries of Chevron Corporation and Weyerhaeuser Company. The biorefinery has received local investments of $190 million and statewide more than $500 million. Once the first plant is complete, KiOR has plans to add four more sites, two in Mississippi and two with undetermined locations.
In late October, another company INEOS New Plant Energy LLC (Vero Beach, FL) began producing power at its $130 million biorefinery in Indian River County, FL that will ultimately produce 8 million gallons per year of ethanol and generate 6 MW of renewable power from local organic and household wastes once it begins full operation, including bioethanol production later this year.
See also: "Biofuel Company KiOR Closes $75 Million Loan," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120201N.htm), January 27, 2012.
See also: "KiOR Breaks Ground Waste-to-Biofuel Plant and Signs Deal with FedEx," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20110518G.htm), May 12, 2011.
PRESS RELEASE
November 8, 2012
KiOR Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results
KiOR, Inc. (Nasdaq: KiOR), a next-generation renewable fuels company, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012.
"I am pleased to announce that we have commenced operations at the Columbus facility and have produced a high quality oil that is in line with our specifications for upgrading into cellulosic gasoline and diesel," said Fred Cannon, KiOR's President and Chief Executive Officer. "More importantly, we believe the high quality of the oil from the Columbus facility validates KiOR's proprietary biomass fluid catalytic cracking, or BFCC, technology at commercial scale. The facility's performance to date not only meets our expectations based on our experience at our pilot and demonstration scale facilities, but also gives me confidence that we remain on track to upgrade our oil in order to ship America's first truly sustainable cellulosic gasoline and diesel for American vehicles."
"Furthermore, our research and development efforts continue to make progress increasing our yields and reducing our capital intensity. Our work continues on our next generation catalyst platform, which we believe can produce a yield of 72 gallons per bone dry ton of biomass when implemented at our full scale commercial facility in Natchez. Moreover, we believe that this catalyst platform will reduce the amount of coke made in our process by up to 25 percent, which would enhance the capital efficiency of our commercial facilities by giving us the ability to process up to 25 percent more feedstock without significant additional capital," Cannon concluded.
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