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	View Edit Domain: BioEnergy Title: * Body: Two Colorado companies are forging ahead with a cellulosic ethanol plant in Boardman, Ore., even as the tight credit market and plunging oil prices have forced others to delay or cancel similar projects.<br /> <br /> Lakewood-based ZeaChem will announce today that it has selected Douglas County- based CH2M Hill to lead the development of the demonstration biorefinery, which will turn softwood, hardwood, corn leaves and stalks, and other biomass into fuel.<br /> <br /> Construction will start this year, and the plant will start operating in the first quarter of 2010. It is expected to produce 1 million gallons of ethanol a year. Commercial scale is 100 million gallons.<br /> <br /> Despite the credit crunch, ZeaChem (pronounced zee-ah-kem) secured $34 million in venture capital in January, which will finance the demonstration plant.<br /> <br /> The company's backers include Valero Energy Corp., the nation's largest oil refiner.<br /> <br /> "Big Oil is starting to move into ethanol," said ZeaChem chief executive James Imbler.<br /> <br /> The company says it has a third-generation refining process that produces 40 percent more ethanol per ton of biomass than existing technologies.<br /> <br /> Imbler said ZeaChem chose to locate the plant in Boardman in part because it's close to the company's contract tree producer, Portland, Ore.-based GreenWood Resources.<br /> <br /> He also said Oregon was more aggressive with incentives than Colorado. The state has traditionally offered fewer incentives, but legislation is being considered to make more available.<br /> <br /> ZeaChem was founded in 2002 by two former CoorsTek engineers. The company employs 10 in Colorado and has plans to add another 15 positions over the next 18 months. It also has 15 workers at a research-and-development lab in Menlo Park, Calif.<br /> <br /> Lignol Energy and Suncor Energy this month suspended plans for an $80 million biorefinery in Grand Junction. Panda Ethanol said it is reviewing options for a planned $120 million plant in Yuma as the company struggles to secure financing for its projects. <br /> <br /> Copyright 2009 The Denver Post <br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Biofuel and bobwhites Ag Secretary Vilsack to keynote cellulosic biofuels summit Biofuels to power the future Novozymes explores seaweed-to-ethanol in India Looking for a biofuels breakthrough in Boardman ADM to close ND ethanol plant Microbes to Take Over Ethanol Production? INEOS New Planet BioEnergy starts construction of biofuel fa... University of Illinois researchers discover potential new vi... Top 50 hottest companies in bioenergy Top BioEnergy Articles

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