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Mascoma Announces Feedstock Processing and Lignin Supply Agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures
Lebanon, New Hampshire – September 14, 2009 – Mascoma Corporation today
announced that it has entered into a feedstock processing and lignin supply agreement
with Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), a division of Chevron U.S.A., Inc.
Under terms of the agreement, CTV will provide various sources of lignocellulosic
feedstock to Mascoma. Mascoma will then convert the feedstock to cellulosic ethanol
through its proprietary process, which produces lignin as a by-product. Mascoma will
provide this lignin to CTV for evaluation.
“This is an important moment for us at Mascoma,” said Dr. Jim Flatt, President of
Mascoma. “The upgrading of our byproduct lignin to high value transportation fuels is an
important step in our effort to prove the effectiveness of integrated biorefineries. It has
been our goal all along to make our process as integrated and sustainable as possible.”
Lignin is a complex chemical compound derived from woody biomass. After biomass has
been converted through Mascoma’s proprietary Consolidated Bio Processing method,
which breaks down the sugars in the cellulose and turns it into ethanol, energy-rich lignin
is left over.
The project will last for two years, and Mascoma is hopeful that the developed
technology may be suitable for a wide variety of feedstocks.
In December 2008, Mascoma began creating ethanol from cellulosic biomass with
positive results at its demonstration facility in Rome, New York. The company, in
collaboration with its commercialization subsidiary Frontier Renewable Resources, is in
the process of financing its first full-scale ethanol facility in Kinross, Michigan. The
company plans to break ground on that facility during the first half of 2010.
About Mascoma
Mascoma Corporation is an innovative biofuels company committed to developing
environmentally sustainable, low cost, low carbon biofuels from cellulosic biomass. The
company’s Consolidated Bioprocessing method converts non-food biomass feedstocks
into cellulosic ethanol through the use of a patented process that eliminates the need for
costly enzymes and additives. The company’s corporate office and R&D laboratories are
based in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Mascoma is producing cellulosic ethanol on a
demonstration scale at its facility in Rome, New York. Its affiliate, Frontier Renewable
Resources, is developing a commercial scale production facility in Kinross, Michigan.
For more information, visit www.mascoma.com.
Media Contact:
Kate Casolaro
617-443-9933 x338 (office)
kcasolaro@rasky.com
