The following post is the first by our new contributor, John Basalla. All his “Green Tech Company Spotlight” articles can be found at the following tag or on John’s page.
What does KiOR do?
KiOR is an alternative fuels company that has developed proprietary technology to convert biomass into crude oil. Their process speeds up fossil fuel formation that takes a million years in nature and compresses it to mere minutes. These hydrocarbons can in turn be refined using standard equipment into gasoline, diesel and other fuel blend stocks, thus requiring no additional refining equipment. KiOR has already developed partnerships with Chevron Corporation as well as major companies such as FedEx.
What makes KiOR unique?
The major difference between KiOR and many other alternative fuel companies is that KiOR uses biomass that does not compete with human food needs directly or indirectly the way that some fuels do, such as corn-based ethanol. Instead, KiOR uses biomass such as logging residue, wood chips, and switch grass that does not compete with human food consumption. This innovation is a key to KiOR’s success. In addition, the ability to use the resulting hydrocarbons in existing refinery infrastructure is a critical advantage as well. Although KiOR faces many challenges to commercialize its product and scale production successfully, it projects that it can achieve an unsubsidized production cost of under $1.80 per gallon given current market conditions.
Future plans
KiOR is building a demonstration plant in Columbus, Mississippi, which should be operating by the second half of 2012. The first full-scale plant is planned for Natchez, Mississippi, with a target completion date of 2014 and is projected to produce 33 million barrels per year of crude oil.
If you would like more information about this company please see the Investors section of KiOR’s website at www.kior.com
Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment personalized advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.
Disclosure: The author has no position in KioR and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.
