Joule Starts Construction on Solar Biofuels Plant in New Mexico

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Privately held Joule Biotechnologies Incorporated (Cambridge, Massachusetts) has started construction on the first phase of a solar biofuel plant near Hobbs, New Mexico. The company has been successfully operating a pilot-scale plant for the last 18 months and is confident the process is capable of commercial-scale operation.

The Liquid Fuel from the Sun™ process is expected to eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of any known alternative to fossil fuel today. Its transformative Helioculture™ platform directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO2 to infrastructure-ready diesel, ethanol or commodity chemicals, with no dependence on biomass feedstocks.

Goals of the project are to have the five-acre Phase I of the project operational by mid to late 2012 and develop a commercial-scale 5,000-acre facility with multiple solar convertible modules capable of producing 15,000 gallons per acre of biofuels.

Fluor Constructors (Greenville, South Carolina) has been selected as the EPC contractor for the project. Commercial-scale production is expected to be completed by mid-2014.

Joule estimates that it can produce biofuels for $0.60 per gallon using sunlight, water and waste CO2 feedstocks.

Industrial Info's databases provide a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging alternative fuels market. Our North American Biodiesel Database covers 150 operational plants and 86 plants in development. Our North American Ethanol Database covers 215 operational plants and 103 plants in various development phases. Our North American Wood Fuel Pellet Database includes 70 operational plants producing more than 25,000 tons annually and 36 projects in progress.

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