New Investment in Cellulosic Ethanol Project
Bruce Goodman
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
Valero Energy Corporation, the nation’s large independent oil refiner, has invested in Mascoma’s Frontier Renewable Resources LLC project in Kinross. It has signed a letter of intent indicating it may invents up to $50 million of the equity required to finance the project and would enter into an off-take agreement for the project’s 40 million gallon annual cellulosic ethanol production. In further support of the project Valero would also provide project development and construction oversight services. With Mascoma’s recent acquisition of SunOpta BioProcess Inc., a world-leading fiber preparation and pretreatment company the entire process for commercializing cellulosic ethanol, from raw materials supply, to pre-processing, through Mascoma’s CBP process and into final distribution is in place.
