World-wide energy economics will shift dramatically in 2011 when the world’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol biorefinery begins operations in Pennsylvania.  Biomass Converters, Inc (BC) has obtained exclusive rights to the only proven commercial scale cellulose-to-ethanol process in the world.  For the first time, liquid transportation fuel - immediately usable in conventional automobiles and made from waste biomass - will become available to the American consumer.  BC’s goal is to become a leader in this emerging industry; to build, own and operate the first economical biorefinery to use biomass as a feedstock to produce fuel ethanol, and to use that leadership position to create a network of biorefineries that creates profit for its investors, jobs for local workers, and a more secure source of transportation fuels.  This position of leadership will begin with the construction of a 30 million gallon per year (Mgy) commercial cellulosic ethanol facility in north-central Pennsylvania which will use hardwood waste as its primary feedstock.  Additional plants are planned following its completion; it is estimated that Pennsylvania alone has enough wood residue from forest operations and milling to produce 1 billion gallons per year (10 plants in region).  It is the goal of BC to expand operations nationally and eventually to build, own and operate a global network of cellulosic facilities.

BC will develop cellulosic ethanol utilizing local wood waste and, in the future, switch grass and short rotation woody crops, rather than food crops.  Making ethanol from forest or agricultural waste does not involve the same intensive farming as corn or sugarcane, which requires more water, fertilizer and petroleum-burning farm equipment.  Also, in the ongoing food-versus-fuel debate, forests don't compete for land with food crops.  The wood that is used is to be collected from managed forests, which increases forest health by removal of forest waste that would otherwise increase risk of pests and fires. The geography of Pennsylvania is ideal for producing cellulosic ethanol from wood waste.  Wood waste is readily available in the region, where faltering lumber and pulp/paper industries have been laying off workers and where public and private woodlands cover over 60% of the state.  An excess of appropriate feedstock is available already, with no need to invest in growing specialized crops or to develop new species of plants.  The benefits of a cellulosic versus a corn-based ethanol production facility are pronounced.  No longer will the use of feedstock as a source of fuel drive up the cost of food. 

BC has the exclusive right to employ the only proven biomass to ethanol conversion process (“the Process”) in north-central Pennsylvania.  This right makes BC the lowest cost producer of ethanol in the United States, securing the firm’s profitable future through multiple business cycles.   In the past decade the Process was proven in one-ton a day runs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and  in test runs for the Swedish government on three types of straw.  The fermentive organisms (yeasts) were developed by Purdue University in research programs sponsored by the Process developers.  Use of the Process provides BC with a three to five year competitive advantage over the rest of the emerging cellulosic marketplace.

BC is a win-win for everyone involved.  It is good for the investor, who collects between a 27.0% and 42.7% annual ROI.  It is good for the loggers and truckers who are re-employed to deliver products to a new market.  It is good for the community with increase in economic base plus millions of dollars in trickle down cash flow into a currently economically depressed community.  It is good for America because it helps make the country more energy self-sufficient, building a new industry with jobs that cannot be exported.  And it is good for the earth through the creation of a reliable and sustainable energy source that reduces greenhouse gases and burns cleaner than petroleum based gasoline.

BC, with its technology license counterparts, is the lowest-cost-producer of ethanol by a substantial margin, and the license provides for BC to receive technology upgrades as they are developed.  This leading position will keep the company profitable through multiple future business cycles, even if supply exceeds demand producing a glut of ethanol.  Demand for BC’s ethanol increases dramatically if the price of ethanol falls to the shut down cost of the current corn-based industry, estimated to be $1.31; BC at that point will still have $0.59 per gallon margin.