Positive Impact

EERE's investment aids in the creation of the first commercial-scale biorefineries in the United States.

Locations

Louisiana, Florida, Iowa, Kansas

Partners

Myriant, INEOS, POET, Abengoa

EERE Investment

$300 million

Clean Energy Sector

Sustainable transportation

EERE supports 25 integrated biorefineries that are specifically focused on producing cellulosic ethanol, drop-in hydrocarbon biofuel, and bioproducts. As of July 2013, INEOS opened the nation’s first commercial-scale biorefinery in Vero Beach, Florida, and began produc­tion of cellulosic ethanol and biopower. Throughout the course of its construction, INEOS created nearly 400 jobs, sourced 90% of its equipment from U.S. manufacturers across 10 states, and provided more than $4 million annually in payroll to the local community. Two other commercial-scale biorefineries, POET-DSM and Abengoa, will complete construction and startup in 2014. Together, these three facilities will have a combined production capacity of more than 50 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. A fourth biorefinery project, Myriant, used BETO funding to construct and start production of bio-based succinic acid in its facility in Lake Providence, Louisiana. This biorefinery produces 30 million pounds of biosuccinic acid per year, which can be used in various products—such as plastics, pigments, and pharmaceuticals—using a renewable, environmentally friendly process that reduces greenhouse gas by 94% compared to the fossil-based process. These facilities advance EERE’s efforts to help trans­form renewable biomass resources into commercially vi­able, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower.

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) works with a broad spectrum of industrial, academic, agricultural, and nonprofit partners across the United States to develop and deploy commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower from renewable biomass resources in America to reduce our dependence on imported oil. 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) success stories highlight the positive impact of its work with businesses, industry partners, universities, research labs, and other entities.