Concern in the Tennessee legislature over start-up plans at the University of Tennessee biofuels pilot plant in Vonore comes at a time when the project is really beginning to hit its stride, according to Kelly Tiller, CEO of Genera Energy, a corporation formed by UT Research Corp. to manage the project in partnership with Dupont Danisco.
A House of Representatives committee put a hold on the transfer of $11 million from the university to Genera for projects associated with plant, which is set to begin operations next month with an eye toward turning switchgrass into ethanol. The committe objected to plans to start testing the plant using corn cobs as a feedstock, based on technology already developed by Dupont Danisco, as well as production estimates for the project.
Tiller said if the committee fails to make a contract amendment allowing Genera to use the funds, they could still be spent by the university for the same purpose, it would just slow the process.
“What (amending the contract) really allows is … to do this rapidly and move from the state subsidized program to one that is self sustaining,” she said. Blocking the amendment would delay commercialization efforts, she said, but “it doesn’t bring this program to a screeching halt … i’m sure we can find ways to accomplish it within the UT system.”
About $7 million of the money is designated for setting up contracts with the third and final round of farmers to grow switchgrass for the new plant. The funds are also to be used for handling and storing the grass. The rest of the funds are for demonstrating other potential uses for switchgrass such as co-firing it with coal in fossil-based power plants.
The university is also readying for an announcement of a commercial investment associated with the test plant. Dupont has already announced plans to site a full-production switchgrass plant in Tennessee at some point in the future. Tiller declined to say whether the upcoming announcement, expected sometime next month, was related to those plans.
Tiller said objections in the assembly have come just as the project is beginning to gain momentum, attracting additional federal dollars and private investment. The University, in partnership with Dupont Danisco, Genera and Ceres Inc.—a biotech energy crop company—recently got $2.35 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture o compare three varieties of switchgrass “using various management practices, harvesting equipment and harvesting timelines in Eastern Tennessee,” according to a release.
“It’s the kind of thing that you have to do all of the groundwork and build up a program and then once it’s up and running and its fully functioning, it’s kind of a snowball all of the benefits that start to come from that initial investment,” Tiller said.
