UT Biomass Project Awarded $4.9 M Grant
September 25, 2009
From UTIA Marketing and Communications:
In an August 31 announcement, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Genera Energy will receive up to $4.9 million to supply low-moisture switchgrass with an efficient bulk-format system that maximizes automated conveyance and handling. Researchers with the UT Institute of Agriculture will manage the project, which aims to achieve an overall process where switchgrass is dry chopped into bulk format on the farm, hauled to a nearby satellite location, stored in a protective facility, bulk compacted into trailers, and efficiently hauled for unloading at the handling unit of the biorefinery.
Genera Energy is the company formed in 2008 by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation as a vehicle to carry out the University’s clean, renewable energy projects and strategic partnerships, particularly related to the cellulosic ethanol biorefinery activities and capital projects of the UT Biofuels Initiative. Genera Energy is collaborating with DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol to construct a demonstration scale cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Vonore, Tenn. that is scheduled to begin operations by the end of this year.
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