Range Fuels, Inc., a company focused on the production of cellulosic ethanol, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded the company a conditional commitment for an $80 million loan guarantee to assist construction of Range Fuels’ commercial cellulosic ethanol plant near Soperton, Georgia.
The first phase of the plant is already under construction and on track to begin production in 2010, the company said in a release.
The loan guarantee is the result of efforts between the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development, AgSouth Farm Credit, and Range Fuels. AgSouth Farm Credit, a leader in agricultural and rural loans and part of Farm Credit Services, will be the lead lending agency on the loan.
"The world–and specifically the United States–has significant challenges with regards to energy, the environment and the economy. Range Fuels intends to be part of the solution to these monumental challenges. We will provide new sources of low-carbon, environmentally friendly fuels that help provide energy security and create new biomass jobs in the process," said David Aldous, Range Fuels’ CEO.
The loan guarantee falls under the Section 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, which provides loan guarantees for commercial-scale biorefineries and grants for demonstration-scale biorefineries that produce advanced biofuels or any fuel that is not corn-based.
Range Fuels’ technology converts wood chips, switchgrass, corn stover, sugarcane bagasse, olive pits and other biomass to ethanol. The company’s proprietary K2 system uses a two-step thermo-chemical conversion process. The first step converts the biomass to synthesis gas and the second step converts the gas to ethanol. The company’s business model is to design, build, own and operate its plants.
In April 2008, Range fuels completed a Series B round of private financing greater than $100 million.
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