The biorefinery project is on schedule to begin production of cellulosic ethanol in 2011

The company has obtained a guaranteed maximum price (GMP), under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) agreements with engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, for construction of the core biorefinery facility.

This facility will convert sugars into acetic acid and then ethyl acetate, the chemical precursors, under ZeaChem’s process, to the production of ethanol.

ZeaChem has also secured full construction funding for the core facility. The US$25 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DoE) will be used to fund the independent front and back-end cellulosic process components, enabling ZeaChem to produce fuel grade ethanol as well as intermediate chemicals from non-food related biomass.

“ZeaChem has successfully completed the financial milestones to ensure that our biorefinery project can be completed on budget and on schedule,” says Jim Imbler, President and CEO of ZeaChem. “We look forward to beginning cellulosic ethanol production in 2011.”

ZeaChem says it will develop commercial scale biorefineries upon successful operations at the Boardman facility.