Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161-0568
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2009-05-26T04:00Z

HYPERLINK
"http://www.rangefuels.com/Range-Fuels-Breaks-Ground-on-the-Nations-Firs
t-Commercial-Cellulosic-Ethanol-Plant"  Range Fuels cellulosic ethanol
plant groundbreaking  

  On November 6th, 2007 a who's who of federal and state public
servants, alternative energy business representatives, and technologists
from all of the country came to the tiny rural town of Soperton, Georgia
to participate in the groundbreaking of the country's first
commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility. It was a milestone for the
facility owner, Range Fuels, Inc., and it promises to be the first of
many such milestones for the ethanol industry, thermochemical biofuel
production, forest-based rural communities, and the U.S. Departments of
Energy and Agriculture. 

Besides the organizers, the roster of speakers included local elected
politicians, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, and Secretary of Energy Sam
Bodman - whose agency is providing $76 million in funding grants for the
installation as part of the   HYPERLINK
"http://bioconversion.blogspot.com/2007/02/us-doe-backs-funding-of-six-c
ellulosic.html"  932 Grant  program announced last February. Tom Doerr,
the Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture also attended.

Hosting the groundbreaking was the President of Range Fuels, Mitch
Mandich (pictured at right with Vinod Khosla), who assured the audience
of his company's commitment to sustaining Soperton's forest assets and
ecology. 

"The environmental sensitivity of renewable resources are key to our
country. So for every tree removed here in Georgia, two trees are
planted. When you put millions of dollars in the ground in a plant, it's
important that it have the feedstock to support it and we have it here.
That plant will have a minimal impact on land. We have 281 acres here of
which we will probably be using less than 15. The rest of the acreage
will be open space and wildlife habitat. Behind me we have already built
an environmental trail and an ecology trail through the wetlands so when
we have visitors to the plant we will also have a nature tour for them."

He cited and thanked numerous business partners in the audience who have
helped with the siting, environmental compliance, logistics, and
construction of the final plant. These include   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ch2m.com/"  CH2M Hill  and   HYPERLINK
"http://www.pricebiostock.com"  Price BIOstock Services .

Mandich introduced the principal investor of the company - venture
capitalist Vinod Khosla. 

"For a few years now I have said that we need to declare a war on oil.
Corn ethanol started that war and without corn ethanol we wouldn't be
making the investments that make cellulosic ethanol possible. As the war
has escalated in my view, we need better weapons. Cellulosic ethanol is
the weapon we need to scale this wall and finally replace oil. Every
assumption about oil and petro-based fuel is based on the fact that we
have cost-effective alternatives to oil. Within a few years ethanol from
this plant, unsubsidized, will be cheaper than oil even after it drops
to half its current price. Renewable fuels will be cheaper than their
fossil alternatives and we will create competition for oil and will
balance the monopoly of oil. 

Construction will start immediately with approximately 200 workers
involved over the next 4 to 5 months.

Here is the entirety of the Range Fuels press release about this event:

U.S. Secretary of Energy and Georgia Governor Attend Groundbreaking
Celebration

Broomfield, CO and Soperton, GA – November 6, 2007 – Range Fuels,
Inc. announced today that it is breaking ground on the nation’s first
commercial cellulosic ethanol plant located in Treutlen County, Georgia,
near the town of Soperton. Range Fuels, one of six companies selected by
the Department of Energy (DOE) for financial support in building a
commercial cellulosic ethanol plant, will be the first to break ground. 

 

The groundbreaking event is being hosted on the future site of Range
Fuels’ Soperton Plant. The event will feature federal, state, city and
county officials, including the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Samuel W.
Bodman, and the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue.

Range Fuels’ Soperton Plant will use wood and wood waste from
Georgia’s pine forests and mills as its feedstock and will have the
capacity to produce over one hundred million gallons of ethanol per
year. Construction of the first 20 million-gallon-per-year phase is
expected to be completed in 2008.

As part of its $76 million Technology Investment Agreement with the DOE,
Range Fuels will receive $50 million based upon the project construction
schedule for the first 20-million-gallon-per-year phase of its Soperton
Plant. The remainder of the grant, $26 million, will be provided for
construction of the next phase of the project.

Range Fuels selected Georgia for its first plant based upon the
state’s robust wood products industry supported by Georgia’s vast
sustainable and renewable forest lands. The state’s environmental
sensitivity and responsible stewardship of its forest lands have created
resources that allow Georgia to support up to two billion gallons per
year of cellulosic ethanol production through the application of Range
Fuels’ technology.

"Range Fuel's production of cellulosic ethanol from wood materials will
make Georgia a national leader in innovative alternative energy
production," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "This project, and
others like it, will boost economic development in rural Georgia and
reduce our state's dependence on foreign oil."

“The state of Georgia has provided us with an excellent opportunity to
locate our first plant using its abundant, renewable forest resources as
feedstock. Our technology transforms the wood and wood waste from
Georgia’s millions of acres of woodlands into ethanol, a key source of
transportation fuel,” said Mitch Mandich, CEO of Range Fuels. “Range
Fuels’ focus on green, renewable energy will ultimately reduce
greenhouse gases, promote energy independence, and create new jobs.”

Range Fuels’ approach is aimed at helping our planet restore its
environmental balance. Range Fuels’ technology is self-sustaining and
uses the same feedstock to make ethanol as it does to operate its plant,
minimizing its reliance on fossil fuels and the consequent production of
greenhouse gases. Through Range Fuels’ innovative process for
producing cellulosic ethanol, the Soperton Plant will use a quarter of
the average water required by corn-based ethanol plants.

In addition, the Soperton Plant has been permitted as a minor source of
emissions. Its proximity to both wood supplies and ethanol markets will
minimize energy expended in supplying the facility with feedstock and
providing ethanol to consumer markets, further demonstrating the
low-impact, environmentally-friendly nature of Range Fuels’
technology.

Range Fuels has won the support of many industry and environmental
groups including the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Coalition
for Ethanol, the Clean Fuels Development Coalition and General Motors.

“Range Fuels’ groundbreaking on its first commercial-scale
cellulosic ethanol plant presents an extraordinary opportunity to move
the country into the next generation of biofuels that will help improve
the environment and secure America’s energy independence,” said
Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President for the American Coalition for
Ethanol. “Now, more than ever, it is critical for us to pursue
clean-burning, homegrown, and cost-effective alternatives to foreign
oil. Range Fuels is among the leaders in the biofuels industry and is
poised to help us achieve these goals. I congratulate Range Fuels on
this important day.”

“This groundbreaking clearly demonstrates that the next generation of
biofuels are possible and reinforces that achieving the President’s
goal of displacing 20 percent of the nation’s gasoline consumption
with alternative fuels by 2017 can become a reality,” said Bob Dineen,
President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. “Progress like
this will additionally help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and increasing ethanol production from processes that utilize
sustainable supplies of biomass, like residue from timber harvesting and
agricultural wastes.”

“On behalf of all the members of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition
(CFDC), we congratulate Range Fuels as they take this significant step
forward in the development of cellulosic ethanol,” said Doug Durante,
Executive Director of the CFDC. “This project will demonstrate that
commercial production of cellulosic ethanol made from biomass or plant
matter can be a reality. This facility will be one of many helping the
country reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move toward energy
independence.”

"Range Fuel's investment in this ethanol production facility is an
important step toward the next generation of renewable fuels. Cellulosic
ethanol has enormous potential for displacing gasoline and reducing
emissions," said Beth Lowery, General Motors Vice President of
Environment, Energy, and Safety Policy.

About Range Fuels, Inc.

Range Fuels, Inc., is focused on green energy and the production of
cellulosic ethanol. The company does not use food products like corn,
but rather uses waste materials and other non food sources and turns
them into valuable products. The company's innovative technology uses
wood chips, municipal waste, paper pulp, olive pits, and more, and
converts those materials to ethanol. The company's system, named K2,
uses a two step thermo-chemical conversion process. The first step
converts the biomass to synthesis gas and the second step converts the
gas to ethanol. The company's business model is to design, build, own
and operate its plants. The company is privately held and funded by
Khosla Ventures, LLC, arguably the top venture firm in the U.S. focusing
on alternative, green energy systems. The leadership team melds
experience from Silicon Valley's fast-paced, high-tech world, and the
technologically intense coal, coal gasification, and gas-to-liquids
industries. Range Fuels' vision is to introduce the world to a fuel
that's renewable, sustainable, and eco-friendly in its production.