Florida awards $25 million to biofuel and bioenergy projects in "Farm to Fuel" initiative: 25% of all energy from biomass by 2025

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced the recipients of $25 million in renewable energy grants. The 12 entities chosen were among 76 vying for the awards, which were funded by the Florida Legislature last spring. The grants are part of the “Farm to Fuel” initiative, a program designed to get Florida’s agriculture industry to produce an impressive 25 percent of the state’s energy needs by the year 2025 in an effort to reduce Florida’s dependency on foreign oil and to keep land in agriculture.

The grants award both research, demonstration and finalisation projects dealing with the production of advanced liquid biofuels obtained from both thermochemical and biochemical conversion processes, gaseous biofuels, electricity and heat from biomass, and bioproducts.

We believe that awards such as these are critical in triggering the development of a renewable energy industry in Florida. With the backing of and an investment from the state, we’re hopeful that these projects will yield positive results and serve as a catalyst for major commercial investment in this industry. - Charles H. Bronson, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner

The entities chosen for the grants are investing nearly $157 million of their own resources into their renewable energy projects. The proposals were evaluated on a number of factors, including their use of Florida-grown crops or biomass to produce energy, their potential to expand agribusiness in the state, preliminary market research and the efficiency of their use of energy and other material resources.

Last spring, the Florida Legislature authorized and Governor Charlie Crist signed into law the “Farm to Fuel” Grants Program to provide matching grants for demonstration, commercialization, and research and development projects involving bio-energy. As part of the program, $25 million was appropriated to stimulate investment in projects that produce renewable energy from Florida-grown crops or biomass.

The winners of this year’s “Farm to Fuel” grants are:

• Gulf Coast Energy of Walton LLC: Awarded $7 million, in a commercial project grant for the construction and operation of both an ethanol and biodiesel plant in a $62 million project in Mossy Head, Florida. This project will build and operate a tandem biodiesel and ethanol production facility. Construction on Phase 1 will begin in the next few months at the Northwest Florida Commerce Park. Actual production of biodiesel is expected by the end of this year and of ethanol in early 2009. The ethanol will be produced using cellulosic materials such as wood waste, and the biodiesel with a blend of chicken fat and soybean oil. The two processes will work well together in that the ethanol process generates methanol which is required in biodiesel production, and the biodiesel process generates glycerin which can be used along with the woody material for ethanol production. In addition, the project’s technology recycles 100% of the carbon dioxide resulting in a state of the art environmental performance while reducing the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
• U.S. Envirofuels LLC: Awarded $7 million, in a commercial project grant for the construction of a $47 million ethanol production plant in Highlands County. This project aims to construct a 20 million-gallon-a-year ethanol production plant using sugar products. The primary feedstock is sweet sorghum which is not a food crop, uses less water and fertilizer than sugar or corn crops and grows rapidly. Water used in the production process will be treated and reused and other byproducts will be sold as high- potassium fertilizer. Supplemental feedstock will also include sugar cane, cane milling byproducts and other sugar crops produced by local growers. Site planning and conceptual plant design are done and permitting is about to begin. The plant will use several technologies to ensure the finished products are low carbon ethanol, green renewable power, bio-fertilizer, beverage grade liquid carbon dioxide, and treated water for process recycling and irrigation.
• Liberty Industries: Awarded $4 million, in a commercial project grant for the construction and operation of a $38 million Liberty County facility that will produce ethanol and electricity using primarily forest waste products. The project will initially produce 7 million gallons of ethanol and 5.4 Megawatts of electricity using predominantly forest waste products. That capacity is expected to be doubled in 2-3 years and subsequently expanded even more. The technology using gasification and fermentation has been successfully used in a pilot demonstration. The feedstock will include forestry waste, waste products from sawmills and to a lesser extent waste from nearby straw, peanut and cotton crops. In addition, the technology can use all carbon based materials and the company intends to also use discarded tires, plastics and municipal waste, reducing the amount of waste going into the landfill. Another environmental benefit is the plant’s waste product is ash, certified by the USDA as environmentally safe.
• Agri-Source Fuels: Awarded $4 million, in a commercial project grant for the construction of a $21 million biodiesel plant in Pensacola. This project will build a biodiesel production plant with an annual output of 20 million gallons of biodiesel. Agri-Source is an existing EPA registered biodiesel producer in Dade City, Florida. The business has improved the process (B100) by reducing production time by 30%, resulting in a 15% energy savings. The increased production will help meet the growing demand for biodiesel fuel by government vehicle fleets. Agri-Source also intends to construct the only operating National Biodiesel Board certified laboratory in Florida and a glycerin refinery which will transform waste by product into a useful commodity. The production process reduces all regulated emissions by 90% compared to petroleum diesel, including carbon monoxide.
• University of Florida: Awarded $500,000, in a research and development grant to develop a catalytic chemical reactor system to convert woody biomass to biodiesel. This is a research and development grant to perform research to develop a catalytic chemical reactor system to convert woody biomass to biodiesel. It seeks to develop the most efficient and effective catalyst for the conversion of synthesis gas to biodiesel, and design a plan for industrial operation. As Florida is the top producer of biomass in the country and ranks third in the nation in energy consumption, the project would focus on the potential of producing 9 million gallons of biofuels a year from an estimated 93 million tons of dry biomass created each year in Florida, allowing the state to move forward in its quest of energy independence.
• Southeast Biofuels LLC: Awarded $500,000, in a demonstration grant to build a nearly $6 million pilot plant in Auburndale to produce ethanol from citrus peels. This is a demonstration grant to Southeast Biofuels to build a commercial demonstration and pilot plant on property leased from Cutrale Citrus Juices USA Inc. in Auburndale to produce ethanol from citrus peels. Located in Florida’s citrus belt, the plant would begin by using a 10,000 gallon fermenter and some 67,000 pounds of citrus peels per batch, and then upgrading capacity, in the production of ethanol. The ultimate goal of the project is to design and build a full-scale commercial plant capable of generating 8 million gallons of ethanol a year by using and disposing of 800,000 tons of citrus waste annually.

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• Sigarca Inc.: Awarded $499,500, in a research and demonstration project involving the construction of a 3,000-square-foot bioenergy plant on the grounds of the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala to process horse waste into renewable energy. This is a research and demonstration project that will build a 3,000-square-foot bioenergy demonstration plant on the grounds of the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala, Florida. Working with the University of Florida and other partners, the company will use its patented dry fermentation process to process horse waste into renewable energy and other agricultural products, including organic soil and soil tonic. The project’s objectives are to demonstrate the potential to convert animal waste to bioenergy and other useful agricultural products while at the same time offering Florida’s animal industry a productive, easy to operate and environmentally superior method to dispose of animal waste.
• University of Central Florida: Awarded $498,000, in a research and development grant to demonstrate the viability and cost effectiveness of technology developed at the university to convert farm and animal waste into renewable energy. This is a research and demonstration project for generating clean-burning synthetic fuels made from biomass and animal waste throughout Florida. One of the key objectives of the research is to demonstrate the viability and cost-effectiveness of technology developed and patented by UCF that uses an advanced thermocatalytic process to convert the materials into liquid fuel. The successful implementation of the technology involved would benefit farmers in finding new uses for their farm and animal waste, and would reduce environmental problems associated with disposal of animal waste in Florida.
• Florida Institute of Technology: Awarded $415,520, in a research and development grant to cultivate and research various strains of Microalgae capable of producing biodiesel. This is a research and development project in which Florida Institute of Technology, along with its partner Aurora Biofuels Inc., is developing what it describes as the next generation of biofuels – biodiesel from microalgae. Its potential is promising as microalgae is naturally oily, grows quickly, produces more bio-oil per acre than traditional crops and can be grown on marginal land unsuitable for food crops. The project calls for the cultivation and testing of microalgae in outdoor ponds for the purpose of selecting specific strains capable of resisting contamination and showing the greatest promise in producing biodiesel. One of the key benefits of the research is to develop a novel source for biodiesel that does not strain the food supply chain and can be developed in rural areas without depleting natural resources.
• Applied Research Associates Inc. of Panama City: Awarded $203,130, in a research and development grant involving converting cellulosic materials such as sugarcane byproducts to fermentable sugars for a more cost-effective way of producing ethanol. This is a research and development grant which will assist in the demonstration of hydrothermal saccharification (CHS), a process that converts cellulosic materials, such as sugarcane bagasse, to fermentable sugars for a more cost effective production of cellulosic ethanol. The conventional process for converting cellulosic material to ethanol involves a multi-step process which is often too costly to enable this type of ethanol production to be competitive in the alternative fuel market. This process uses high-temperature water to achieve saccharification in a single and continuous processing step. In order to speed up technology demonstration and the success of cost effective cellulosic ethanol production, ARA is collaborating with Florida Crystals Corporation (FCC). Success of this project will result in a significant cost savings to the cellulosic ethanol industry. The project is expected to be completed within one year.
• Applied Research Associates Inc. of Panama City: Awarded $182,832, in a research and development grant to demonstrate a new technology in converting crop oils into biodiesel. This is a research and development grant to enable Applied Research Associates to demonstrate a new approach to converting crop oils into biodiesel, called catalytic hydrothermolysis (CH). The one year project would use locally grown soybean, peanut and cotton seed crops with a process that would significantly increase efficiencies and biodiesel output. The applicant already has research and development capabilities at its Panama City facilities which will speed up progress and cut costs for the proposed demonstration project. The novel conversion process has the potential to increase biodiesel production from soybeans by 900 percent. It would also significantly increase output of biodiesel from peanut and cotton seed crops.
• Neptune Industries Inc.: Awarded $158,270, in a research and development project that would create a pilot-scale floating algae production system in quarry lakes in South Florida to produce algae capable of being converted into biodiesel. This is a research/demonstration project in which Neptune Industries Inc. would create a pilot scale floating algae production system using quarry lakes in semi-tropical South Florida to produce algae capable of being converted into biodiesel. By locating the production system in natural water bodies, fish waste would be produced and provide essential nutrients in the form of nitrogen and phosphorous to promote algae growth. The advantage of such research would be a demonstration of the feasibility of using a non-food source in the production of biodiesel, thus sparing the strain on corn, soybeans and other food crops which have become increasingly more expensive as a portion of those crops have been diverted to the production of renewable energy.

Picture: one of the awarded projects aims to convert bagasse, the fibrous waste from sugarcane processing, into liquid biofuels.

References:
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Bronson Announces ‘Farm To Fuel’ Grant Winners; Projects To Share In $25 Million To Spur Renewable Energy Industry - January 22, 2008.

Florida Farm to Fuel project website.