ZeaChem has developed a process to make ethanol from these bugs, rather than try to develop new yeasts or bacteria as start-ups and has raised $34 million to build its first plant that uses the process. It also intends to use existing industrial equipment, lowering the technology risk involved.
"One advantage of our technology is that there's no new bug and no new equipment," he said. "It's really an engineering challenge because all of the equipment is industrially proven." ZeaChem is one of several companies developing technology for cellulosic ethanol or gasoline additive ethanol from non-food sources.
The biorefinery will begin to operate next year, making 1.5 million gallons of ethanol a year from a non-food feedstock, such as wood chips or grasses and could be located in Boardman, Ore., according to ZeaChem CEO James Imbler.
In contrast to the number of research initiatives, there are few companies working with the micro-organisms in termites' digestive tracts to make fuel or other chemicals. There are only a handful of cellulosic ethanol plants being tested in the U.S., each pursuing slightly different avenues.
ZeaChem claims that its process can provide 40 percent higher ethanol yield than competing cellulosic ethanol firms. According to Imbler, it is expected to be able to get 135 gallons of ethanol from a ton of feedstock.
The technology uses sulfuric acid to break down the cellulose into sugars which are then converted into acetic acid by termite-derived micro-organisms.Hydrogen from syngas, which is created using a gasifier, is combined with the acetic acid after fermentation to make ethano. The left over syngas is enough to burn and make steam to power the operation, Imbler said.
ZeaChem also plans to make use of the lignan in plants that's left after the cellulose has been broken down. According to the company, ZeaChem's process emits less carbon dioxide than other cellulosic ethanol techniques using the gasification step means.
Although the process is flexible enough to use different feedstocks, but at this point, its preferred fuel source is poplar trees, which grow quickly and can be harvested cost effectively.
The company plans to break ground on its first facility this year. It anticipates production at the facility starting in 2010 and plans to break ground on a commercial-scale plant in 2011.
