Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley Lands $26 Million Biofuels Grant

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley has taken another leap forward in the race to build a sustainable biofuels industry with the announcement that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $26 million grant for a one-tenth scale cellulosic ethanol facility here.

The award, which goes to a partnership between Mascoma Corporation, the University of Tennessee (UT), the Tennessee Research Foundation and Genera Energy, brings to more than $230 million the recent federal and state investment in bioenergy sciences across the Innovation Valley. That figure includes DOE's $135 million grant to nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2007 for its new Bioenergy Science Center and $70 million pledged by the State for the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative.

The pilot project to be located in Niles Ferry Industrial Park in Monroe County will produce cellulosic ethanol. State funding includes $8.25 million in incentives for local farmers to produce switchgrass as a feedstock. The ultimate goal is to create a sustainable biobased economy in the state with numerous biorefineries supplied by locally produced biomass. To stimulate supply, UT has already contracted with 16 area farmers to produce 720 acres of switchgrass this year. Approximately 6,000 acres of switchgrass will be in production by 2010. The refinery could produce ethanol for less than $1.50 per gallon within five years.

The Innovation Valley is "lucky to have a national lab, strong state support and the leadership of a major university to build the region's high tech future," according to Doug Lawyer of the Knoxville Chamber.

Economic development throughout the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley is coordinated by a regional partnership -- Innovation Valley Inc. -- which includes the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, Knoxville Chamber, Loudon County Economic Development Agency, Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, Roane Alliance and Tellico Reservoir Development Agency.

Forbes magazine has again ranked the Knoxville area one of the ten best metros in the country for business based on business costs, education, cost of living, crime rates, and job and income growth. The Knoxville/Oak Ridge market is fourth in Southern Business & Development Magazine's rankings of the top markets in the South for advanced manufacturing. For more information about the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley, visit http://www.innovationvalleyinc.org/.