Shell and Iogen Increase Investment to Accelerate Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol
06 June 2010
Royal Dutch Shell plc and Iogen Corporation have made a further investment in Iogen Energy, their jointly owned subsidiary, for the purpose of accelerating the commercial deployment of Iogen Energy’s process for making cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residue.
As part of the ongoing joint development agreement between Shell, Iogen Corporation and Iogen Energy, Shell has made a significant incremental commitment to fund research and development activities at Iogen Energy until mid-2012.
Iogen Energy is currently operating its Ottawa demonstration plant on a continuous basis using its proven R7 technology release. Over the last 12 months, Iogen Energy has produced more than 170,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol from wheat straw using the R7 technology. Shell’s additional funding will be used to develop and demonstrate Iogen Energy’s next two major technology releases, R8 and R9, which will significantly reduce the capital and operating costs per gallon of cellulosic ethanol.
The collaboration with Iogen Corporation in Iogen Energy is a key part of Shell’s strategic investment and development program in next generation biofuels using non-grain feedstocks. The fuel is made from raw materials such as wheat straw and promises to reduce CO2 emissions by greater than 80% compared to gasoline.
Iogen Energy, a 50-50 joint venture between Shell and Iogen Corporation, is a leading biotechnology firm specializing in cellulosic ethanol, which it has been producing from wheat straw at its Ottawa demonstration plant since 2004.
This is like Copy and Paste repetitive news that come out ounce or twice a year for the last 10 years. Will a commercial size plant ever see the day, using various feed stocks?
Posted by: HarveyD | 06 June 2010 at 10:11 AM
This is one of those companies, like Nanosolar, that had the early insight, the pedigree, the venture capital and everything else they seemed to need to go large with renewables, and...we're still waiting.
Posted by: HealthyBreeze | 06 June 2010 at 01:01 PM
I can recall the Iogen announcements about a decade ago. That is a LONG time to wait to see any real application on a large scale. The fact that Shell owns a lot of that company does not make me feel like they will get it out there real soon now.
Posted by: SJC | 07 June 2010 at 04:37 PM