BC International Tabs Shaw for $82 Million Ethanol Expansion
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BCI Louisiana LLC, a subsidiary of BC International Corp., has awarded Shaw Group Inc. (Baton Rouge, LA) an $82 million procurement and construction contract to retrofit BCI's Jennings, LA, facility to produce 23 million gal/yr of ethanol in early 2002.
It will be the first production facility to use BCI's waste biomass-to-ethanol process. The process relies on genetically engineered bacteria capable of breaking down five-carbon sugars found in such food processing wastes as sugar cane residue (bagasse) and rice hulls. BCI says the technology will, for the first time, produce ethanol at costs competitive with fossil fuels.
Located on the banks of the Mermentau River (on the site of Louisiana's first oil well), the facility began its life as a petroleum refinery built in 1977 by Shepherd Oil, Inc. In 1981, Shepherd converted the unit into an ethanol facility that used molasses as a feedstock. It modified the plant again in 1987 to enable it to process grain feedstock, and making it the only commercial US plant with multifeedstock capability. Shepherd eventually went bankrupt and BCI purchased the facility in 1994.
The planned retrofit includes installation of new vessels, piping, and controls; replacement of some existing equipment; and installation of a cogeneration facility. The plant has barge access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River, and sits about one-quarter mile from rail tracks. On-site infrastructure includes natural gas and wastewater treatment systems.
BCI's deal with Shaw covers procurement, total site management, and direct hire and subcontract administration. The companies have signed a letter of intent, and plan to finalize a final agreement pending project financing.
The Louisiana plant is the first of several planned facilities that Shaw will build for BCI under a long-term agreement.
Until now, commercial plants have made ethanol by fermenting starch-rich foodstuffs, such as corn and grain. Researchers have long wanted to use waste biomass. It not only has no competing economic value as food, but often requires costly disposal as well.
Biomass, however, posses a key barrier: about one-third of its mass consists of hemicellulose, a fibrous substance that consists primarily of such five-carbon sugars as pentose and xylose.
Enter BCI with a genetically engineered bacterium, dubbed "KO11," which converts both five-carbon and traditional sugars to ethanol. KO11 is a common bacterium used in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1987, Lonnie Ingram, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences microbiologist, implanted with genes from another bacterium, Z. mobilis, that allow it to convert a wide range of sugars to ethanol.
In 1991, the US Dept. of Commerce awarded Ingram US Patent 5,000,000 in a special Congressional ceremony. Thousands competed for this landmark patent number. In 1995, BC International and its wholly-owned subsidiary, BCI Louisiana LLC, acquired the right to use and license the technology, as well as related processes using organisms similar to KO11. BCI's patent base now includes 13 additional patents with 34 more pending.
The US Dept. of Agriculture has provided support for Dr. Ingram's genetic work, and the US Dept. of Energy has awarded cost-sharing support to demonstrate the technology. BCI successfully piloted the technology at the Tennessee Valley Authority facility in Muscle Shoals, AL, and Jennings, LA.
BCI has already begun planning its second biomass facility. It will locate the 20 million gal/yr plant in Gridley, CA, the heart of Sacramento Valley's rice-growing district. The plant will sit next to the 18.5 MW Pacific Orville biomass power plant.
The new ethanol plant will consume rice wastes from the surrounding agricultural region, as well as wood feedstock from local orchards, forests, and mills, to make ethanol and supplemental lignin fuel for the power facility. Locating BC International's facility at this site will reduce costs and improve efficiencies of the power plant as well as the proposed ethanol facility.
The California State Legislature recently voted to phase out the burning of rice straw waste by 2003 in order to reduce air pollution. Without a viable disposal alternative, the phaseout could render useless thousands of acres of rice lands, since the hard claypan soils do not readily support other crops.
In January 1998, the City of Gridley selected BCI to develop and operate a biomass-to-ethanol facility. BCI will hold a majority share of the facility, which will receive a $12.5 million development grant from the US Dept. of Energy. The California Energy Commission will provide $160,000 in matching funds.
"We are very pleased to team up with BCI on the ground floor as they bring new bioenergy technology into the industry," says Shaw chairman/president/CEO J. M. Bernhard, Jr. "With the demand for ethanol increasing, we are thrilled to link the capabilities of Shaw and BCI as we play a leading role in this emerging industry."
Shaw is the largest US supplier of fabricated piping systems, and one of the leading suppliers of integrated piping systems and services for new construction, site expansion, and retrofit projects in the world. It offers comprehensive piping solutions of integrated engineering, design, fabrication, erection and maintenance, as well as the manufacture of specialty pipe fittings and supports. Shaw operates facilities in California, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Australia, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and Bahrain, where it has a 49% interest in a joint venture.
For more information: BC International Corp., 990 Washington St., Suite 104, Dedham, MA 02026. Phone: 781-461-5700. Fax: 781-461-2626.
Or: Shaw Group Inc., 8545 United Plaza Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Phone: 225-932-2500. Fax: 225-932-2661.
By Alan S. Brown