Ineos & partner to build Florida biorefinery

Jan. 6, 2011 – Ineos Bio and its joint
venture partner, New Planet Energy, have received a conditional commitment for
a $75 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA)
9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program. Funds will be used to construct the first
Ineos BioEnergy Center, to be situated near Vero Beach, Florida. The BioEnergy
Center will produce eight million gallons/year (36 million litres/year) of
advanced biofuel together with 6 MW of renewable power from biomass, including
yard, vegetative, and wood wastes and municipal solid waste.

Financing from the USDA 9003 program is
provided to advance the next generation bioenergy technologies into the
commercial sector. The program provides guaranteed loans for the development
and construction of commercial-scale biorefineries or for the retrofitting of
existing facilities using eligible technology for the development of advanced
biofuels. “As well as directly assisting construction of the Ineos New Planet
BioEnergy commercial plant, the loan guarantee also represents an important
step along the road to replication of this exciting new technology through
Ineos Bio’s licensing program,” says Peter Williams, CEO of Ineos Bio and
chairman of Ineos New Planet BioEnergy.

Site preparation and construction are underway at the BioEnergy Center,
creating 55 new jobs to date. The BioEnergy Center is slated to begin
production in 2012 and provide 50 full-time jobs once completed.

The heart of the Ineos Bio technology is a patented anaerobic fermentation step
through which naturally occurring bacteria convert gases derived directly from
biomass into ethanol. Unlike other technologies that rely on one primary source
of feedstock, this process can produce ethanol and renewable energy from
numerous feedstocks, including construction waste, municipal solid waste, and
forestry and agricultural waste.