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Grant to Help Iowa Plant Produce Biodiesel & Cosmetics

3 Comments Posted by John Davis – December 7th, 2009

elevanceAn Illinois company has received a $2.5 million federal grant to put in a demonstration project in an Iowa biodiesel plant that could allow the facility to produce the green fuel and cosmetics.

Last month, I told you how Elevance Renewable Sciences of Bolingbrook, Ill., was looking to get some government assistance to put in the $8.1 million project in Renewable Energy Group’s Central Iowa Energy biodiesel plant in Newton (see my post from Nov. 23, 2009). Now, the Des Moines (IA) Register reports the U.S. Department of Energy has come through with part of the money Elevance was looking for:

Elevance uses a proprietary technology that could produce fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics from the same soybean oils and animal fats used at biodiesel plants. It has told state officials that the process could be bolted on to other biodiesel plants around the state.

Elevance also has requests pending for a $3.8 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund and another $800,000 from the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Elevance is backed by the Texas Pacific Group investment fund of Fort Worth as well as Cargill and Materia Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., which owns the patents to the Olafin Metathesis process that won the 2005 Nobel Prize.

This grant is part of that $600 million the feds announced last week that went to 19 biorefinery projects in 15 states.

related topics: Biodiesel, Government