U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Oct. 3 in Baton Rouge a $91 million loan guarantee for a biofuels company that will build a processing plant in Alexandria. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter News Release Distributed 10/03/14
BATON ROUGE, La. – A biofuels company will receive a $91 million loan guarantee to build a processing plant in Alexandria, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday (Oct. 3) in Baton Rouge.
Vilsack said Cool Planet, a biofuels company based in Colorado that makes green fuels and biochar, will benefit from the loan guarantee because it removes some of the risk involved with expansion. The funding comes through USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance Program.
“We want to encourage this advanced biofuel industry so it can take hold,” Vilsack said, noting that jobs created to construct plants and process biofuels could stimulate rural economic growth.
Biofuels are critical to America’s energy future, Vilsack said, and research done at universities is important to achieve more fuel security and efficiency in the future.
Since 2011, the LSU AgCenter’s Sustainable Bioproducts Initiative has been exploring production of feedstock crops for cost-effective conversion to biofuels and other products. The goal is to make it economically feasible to grow and process feedstocks like energycane and sweet sorghum in Louisiana. The bioproducts project is funded by a four-year, $17.2 million USDA grant.
“Louisiana has great potential for contributing to biofuels research and production,” said Donal Day, project director and professor at the AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute. “Not only can we grow energycane and sweet sorghum, but we also have existing sugar and chemical industry infrastructure. Biofuels represent a unique opportunity for Louisiana’s agriculture sector to expand.”
Olivia McClure