New biofuels demonstration plant nears completion

US-based drop-in petrol producer Primus Green Energy as almost completed construction on a new demonstration plant in New Jersey.

PGE uses natural gas and biomass to produce its fuel and the final of four reactors will soon be in place to wrap up construction on the $12 million (€9.4 million) project. The demonstration plant will serve as a model for PGE’s first commercial plant, on which it expects to break ground for in 2013.

The plant will initially use natural gas as its main feedstock, but PGE claims it will be adapted to use premium wood pellets too.

‘We have gone from the concept to the demonstration stage in only five years and now, with this plant, we can further refine our technology with the goal of moving us toward commercialization next year,’ says PGE CEO Robert Johnsen.

‘Although we consider ourselves a biofuels company, we will be using natural gas as a bridge to biofuels’ he adds. “Our initial use of natural gas will enable us to build a profitable plant that will validate our proprietary technology, which we can later adapt for use with biomass as a feedstock.’