Primus Green Energy Introduces New Jersey’s First Biomass-To-Gasoline Demonstration Plant
NAFA was on hand to see the future of domestic fuel in action on June 22 during a dedication ceremony for Primus Green Energy’s biomass-to-gasoline demonstration plant – the first of its kind in New Jersey. The event featured an impressive roster of speakers, including former N.J. Governor James J. Florio, tours of the facility, and an actual test drive of an automobile fueled with 93-octane gasoline made from natural gas and biomass at the company’s new $7 million demonstration plant.
The fuel made by Primus is a direct replacement for gasoline, meaning no additional equipment or modifications are needed for use. The gasoline is expected to be priced within the $65 per barrel range, making it highly competitive within the market. The demonstration plant, which will serve as a model for the company’s first commercial plant (expected to break ground in 2013), will produce about 4-5 barrels per day. The Primus Green Energy technology is a proprietary version of proven commercial technologies to convert natural gas and/or biomass to a variety of liquid transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel or specialty chemicals such as xylene and toluene.
"The construction of our new demonstration plant is a tremendous achievement that showcases our ability to scale our technology," said Robert J. Johnsen, Primus' Chief Executive Officer. "We have gone from the concept stage to the demonstration stage in only five years and now, with the demo plant, we can further refine our technology with the goal of commercializing our technology next year.
"We are confident that we will be able to emerge from the other side of that perilous valley with the technology platform that will provide the American public and the world with a domestic source of low-cost, high-quality transportation fuels."
The event was attended by a distinguished roster of more than a dozen federal, state and local dignitaries, including Robert A. Marshall, Assistant Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Howard Henderson, State Director for Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S. Congressman Leonard Lance, New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District; Joseph L. Fiordaliso, Commissioner, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; New Jersey Senator Christopher "Kip" Bateman, Legislative District 16; New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula, Legislative District 17; Joanne Underwood, President, Energy Vision; and the aforementioned Governor Florio.
More than one hundred guests attended the event, which took place at the site of Primus Green Energy's new demonstration plant. The new demonstration plant will showcase the flexibility of Primus Green Energy technology in terms of both feedstock and end product. Although the plant will initially use natural gas as a feedstock, it will later be adapted to use biomass in the form of wood pellets or energy crops. The end products will include a high quality gasoline that is virtually identical to gasoline produced from petroleum, and jet fuel.
"No country can out-innovate the United States -- not Europe, not China, not India -- and no state can out-innovate New Jersey," said Congressman Lance, who included Primus Green Energy on a list of Garden State innovators such as Thomas A. Edison and Bell Labs, where modern technologies such as the laser, the cell phone, and the fax machine were developed.
Primus Green Energy has been funded since its inception by a single investor, IC Green Energy, which is the alternative energy investment arm of Israel Corp., Israel's largest publicly traded corporation. The commitment of IC Green Energy, which was lauded by the speakers in their remarks, has allowed the company to progress steadily from concept to the brink of commercialization. For more information on the company visit http://www.primusge.com.
