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U.S. Department of Energy Selects ICM Inc. to Receive Federal Funding for Small-Scale Cellulosic Ethanol Project

Colwich, KS—ICM, Inc. is thrilled to announce it was among four small-scale biorefinery projects selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead biomass-to-ethanol research efforts by utilizing numerous feedstocks and performing innovative conversion technologies to subsequently deliver online full-size, commercial-scale biorefineries.

The DOE will invest up to $114 million over four years in the biorefinery projects with the goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive in five years.

Other funding recipients include: Lignol Innovations, Inc.; Pacific Ethanol, Inc.; and Stora Enso, North America.

Headquartered in Colwich, KS, ICM Inc. will utilize various feedstocks including corn fiber, switchgrass, corn stover, and sorghum, integrating biochemical processing and demonstrating energy recycling within the biorefinery.

ICM’s proposed plant location in St. Joseph, MO, is uniquely positioned to fulfill the DOE project requirements in a cost-efficient manner.

Early plans call for a pilot-scale biorefinery to be constructed adjacent to an existing 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility.

Much of the necessary infrastructure (road, rail, water, electrical, utility, and wastewater treatment) already exists, eliminating significant capital expense in this project.

ICM’s commitment to the growth of the renewable fuels industry is demonstrated by the strong synergistic partnerships it has formed with academic institutions, government, and the private sector to help the nation to achieve an environmentally-friendly and more secure energy future through the cost-effective production of lignocellulosic ethanol.

ICM, Inc. is proud to recognize collaborators in this effort, including Ceres, Inc.; Edenspace Systems Corporation; South Dakota State University; AGCO Corporation; DOE-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); USDA-ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR); Novozymes; VeraSun Energy Corporation; and SunEthanol, Inc.

“ICM is excited to have been selected as one of the recipients of this DOE award, and I’d personally like to thank the DOE for their aggressive pursuit of a renewable and sustainable fuel source.

"This announced funding will supplement private investment with an end goal of solving each of the barriers to cost-effective production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass.

"We have engineered more than 60 ethanol plants in North America, and this technology has the potential to complement each of those existing facilities.

"We’ll gain even further efficiencies in the production process, and potentially add more than 5 billion gallons of additional renewable fuel to our nation’s fuel supply annually through this collaboration alone.

"I believe that ICM’s existing research in this area, supported by the team of experts we’ve partnered with, puts us in a position to successfully achieve and exceed the goals of this project,” said Dave Vander Griend, president and CEO.

For more information, call Greg Krissek at 316-977-6549.