US Policymakers Attend Biofuels Tour

On August 17-20, 2009, Iowa State University hosted the Biofuels: Science & Sustainability Tour that united congressmen, senators, and regulators with local renewable fuels professionals to present technologies being studied by the Biofuels industry. The Tour’s purpose was to educate the policymakers on a variety of Biofuels issues and the future of biorefining.

The tour took the policymakers through several locations including the Iowa Energy Center’s BECON Center (Biomass Energy Conversion Facility). This facility provides a platform for researchers and educators to transform innovative ideas into functioning commercial and pilot-scale operations. At the BECON facility, several companies including Frontline BioEnergy gave a presentation and showed their innovative technologies to the policymakers.

Frontline BioEnergy presented the company’s pilot biomass gasifier that converts biomass into producer gas that can be used as a natural gas replacement. Frontline BioEnergy has an operational commercial-scale biomass gasifier at the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson, MN.