Pollution Prevention 

KiOR is a next-generation biofuels company which produces a renewable crude oil substitute. KiOR’s 

process creates this substitute from biomass by enhancing nature’s method of making oil. This substitute 

can be refined and then blended into a variety of transportation fuels compatible with our country’s 

existing fuel infrastructure. This approach creates significant societal and environmental benefits. 

Among current alternative fuels, KiOR’s products are near-term solutions to reducing US dependence on 

foreign oil, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating high-quality jobs and economic 

benefit for rural America, where production facilities will be built. 

KiOR’s products can be blended into gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels. The current target 

rate for blending is 5-10%. KiOR blends can be “dropped-in” to the current fuel production and 

distribution infrastructure and used in vehicles on the road today, potentially avoiding billions of dollars of 

new infrastructure costs and years of adoption hurdles faced by other renewable fuels. 

KiOR’s high-quality fuels substitute is less corrosive and of lower oxygen content than other bio-based 

oils. Blends of KiOR products are comparable to their fossil-fuel based counterparts in the existing fuel 

supply, offering a more environmentally-friendly fuel option to consumers at the pump. 

KiOR is in discussion with the DOE and EPA Air Office regarding the benefits of these fuels and their 

contribution to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) program. 

Compared to conventional fossil-fuel-derived hydrocarbons and even many biomass-derived fuels, 

KiOR’s process: 

 Delivers over 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 

 Maintains engineering controls designed to ensure production facilities are minor sources per air 

quality regulations. 

 Distributes land-based biomass facilities to reduce risk and uncertainty of environmental events. 

This eliminates risks and uncertainties of 

- Traditional oil feedstock deep drilling 

- Traditional oil feedstock pipelines 

 Utilizes surplus biomass feedstock, improves forest health, and reduces fire risk and uncertainty 

 Derives biomass from sources which do not compete with foodstuffs 

 Minimizes difficult-to-define risks and uncertainties of multiple new technologies and unscaled 

technology improvements 

 Lowers consumer risk and uncertainty associated with unknown issues of non-fungible fuels 

 Minimizes risk and uncertainty of finding, maintaining, and transporting foreign feedstock sources 

Reduced GHG Emissions 

KiOR hydrotreated, renewable naphtha, distillate, residual oil, and kerosene (“jet fuels”) blendstocks are 

indistinguishable in performance from their fossil-fuel counterparts. 

At KiOR’s current state of technology, transportation fuel blend-stocks can be produced with significant 

greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions relative to other biofuels and conventional crude oil refining. 
The figure below shows the GHG emissions from KiOR’s production process (farming and feedstock 

transport, fuel production, and fuel transport) are significantly lower than GHG emissions from corn 

ethanol, sugarcane ethanol, or soybean biodiesel production processes. 

KiOR naphtha and distillate blendstocks reduce GHG emissions relative to conventional transportation 

fuels. 

KiOR can produce gasoline with a GHG emission reduction of 84% relative to conventional gasoline 

(emissions from feedstock, fuel transport, process, and vehicle emissions) and diesel with a GHG 

emission reduction of 85% relative to conventional diesel, as can be seen in Table 1 and Figure 1 below. 

Table 1 Estimated direct GHG emissions for KiOR gasoline and diesel

KiOR Gasoline and Diesel GHGs 

(kgCO2e/MMBTU) Gasoline Diesel 

Feedstock 5.3 5.3 

Fuel Transport 0.7 0.7 

KiOR Process 8.0 8.0 

Vehicle Emissions 1.6 0.6 

Total Direct Emissions 15.7 14.7 

2005 Baseline 98.0 97.0 

KiOR GHG Reduction, % 84% 85% 
Figure 1 GHG emission reductions for KiOR gasoline and diesel

In addition to these use benefits the following should be considered. 

 Land use, transportation, and infrastructure: KiOR’s production facilities will be built on 

vacant land in industrial areas to prevent the use of prime farmland or wildlife habitats. The 

facility sites will be selected in industrial areas to leverage the use of existing infrastructure for 

power, water, and transportation. Significant impacts from traffic congestion are not expected 

because the counties selected for KiOR’s facilities are primarily rural. 

 Geology and soils: The possible environmental impacts to geology and soils are erosion from 

storm water runoff and contamination from a process-related spill or leak. KiOR has developed a 

Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and a Spill Prevention, Control, and 

Countermeasure (SPCC) plan for each facility site. Storm water runoff will be collected and sent 

to a storm water retention pond shared with neighboring facilities or one dedicated to the facility. 

KiOR’s facilities will be bermed to contain any process related spills or leaks. Collected 

contaminated water will be treated at appropriate wastewater treatment facilities. 

 Water resources: The potential environmental impacts to water resources are sediment entering 

a waterbody from increased erosion and contamination from a process\-related spill or leak. 

KiOR will implement a site specific SWPPP and SPCC plan for each facility constructed to 

mitigate any risk of water resource contamination. 
 Biological resources: Some mixed forest habitat may be destroyed during the construction of the 

facilities. KiOR has carefully selected sites in areas where any forest habitat destroyed would be 

an exceedingly small portion of the total forest habitat in that area. Site inspections have not 

shown any evidence of the presence of any threatened or endangered species. The operation of 

KiOR sites will increase the demand for wood products in their immediate vicinities, but the 

facilities will only be operated using biomass from plantation trees or waste sources, eliminating 

the risk of significant impacts on local vegetation. 

 Air quality and noise: KiOR sites would not cause or contribute to an exceedance of the 

NAAQS. VOC’s generated by the operation of the plants will be controlled by venting the 

exhaust gases from within the process through a waste heat boiler that would remove 

approximately 99% of the VOCs. Any particulate matter emissions will be controlled by 

precipitation . Particulate matter emissions generated by the hammer mills in the feedstock 

processing area would be controlled by fabric filters. Odor and noise will not be a factor because 

facilities will not be located near residences. It is important to note that KiOR’s process offers an 

84% reduction in GHG emissions compared to conventional pathways. 

 Socioeconomics: The construction and operation of KiOR facilities will have a positive 

socioeconomic impact. Jobs will be created in rural areas with unemployment rates higher than 

the average for their state. 

 Human health and safety: KiOR will follow all OSHA and all other applicable federal and state 

regulations during the construction and operation of KiOR facilities to maximize the safety of all 

workers and the general public. Workers will adhere to the safety measures stipulated in KiOR’s 

Health, Safety, and Environmental Plan which include, but are not limited to, the use of 

appropriate personal protective equipment, employee and supervisor training, and accident 

investigation and reporting procedures. 

 Waste management: KiOR facilities will generate non-hazardous waste mainly in the form of 

ash and spent catalyst. KiOR will recycle non-hazardous waste to the extent possible, through 

such measures as providing ash to local farms and landowners. Hazardous waste generated by the 

facilities will consist of broken, contaminated glassware from laboratories which cannot be 

reused, contaminated personal protective equipment, and contaminated maintenance items such 

as oil rags. These items are expected to exist only in limited quantities. The hazardous wastes will 

be transported off-site by a licensed hazardous waste transportation company to a licensed 

hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility.