An alternative fuel company in Corvallis has received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through its Small Business Innovation Research program.
The money will pay for continuation of a feasibility study by Trillium FiberFuels Inc., which is looking at using the common sugar xylose for ethanol production. “The core idea is to better use the sugars in biomass,” Trillium FiberFuels founder Chris Beatty said. “You can really change the economics of how ethanol performs. We’ve found a way to improve the yield of fuel up to 40 percent by using xylose.”
The company, in a two-year program, is transferring lab research to a pilot-scale project.
“We’re trying to go from raw grass straw to a finished ethanol product that can be sold,” Beatty said. “It would be a milestone for us to sell that product into the fuel distribution network.”
Beatty believes that his company’s biofuel, which uses leftovers from grain production, would be more beneficial than traditional ethanol, which is made from corn.
“I think corn was an important proof point to show that biofuels matter,” Beatty said. “But this is a much more sustainable fuel. Grass straw has a much lower value; it’s not human food and it doesn’t take up land needed for food.”
In the future, Beatty would like to build an ethanol production facility between Albany and Junction City, close to where the grass straw is grown.
“One part of our business is licensing our technology to other refineries around the world that are using grass straw,” Beatty said. “The other part is becoming an expert at the chemistry of grass straw so when the time is right to develop a facility in the valley, we will be the best choice.”
