Molasses Ethanol project in Florida

Summary

Central Florida Processing LLC (“CFP”) is a Florida company formed for the purpose of developing a small scale advanced biofuels production facility in the city of Okeechobee, Florida. CFP focus is to build highly efficient small scale production located near end users and optimized to match local market needs.  The nameplate capacity of this facility is 10 million gallons per year of bioethanol.

Project Highlights

The ethanol produced at the facility is an advanced biofuel as defined in EISA 2007; feedstock is sugar cane molasses (non-corn). Process uses gasification of biomass to generate all required energy, thus providing maximum possible GHG reductions and qualifying the project for additional RIN credits, carbon credits, and REC. Products are ethanol, CO2, and fertilizer; site has CSX rail spur. Future use of sweet sorghum is incorporated into initial design. EnergyOne will manage, operate, and maintain the entire facility for CFP.

Core Strategy

EnergyOne – a company that owns and manages CFP - has created a blueprint for distributed low cost production of advanced renewable fuels from blackstrap molasses and local non-food agricultural feedstocks.  Based on this concept, CFP will build a small scale multi-feedstock ethanol and carbon dioxide production plant designed to leverage local resources and efficiently meet local market needs.  The Florida market for transportation fuels is the third largest in the United States and includes a mandate for the use of 900 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol. There is currently a review on the federal level to allow higher level blends for non-flex fuel vehicles.  A 15% blending option would create an addition 450 million gallons per year of ethanol demand in Florida alone. Yet, due to lack of local corn supply and logistical challenges, there is currently no commercial fuel ethanol production in Florida.  CFP is combining market leading Brazilian ethanol technology and utilizing readily available local feedstocks in a highly efficient process to produce low cost fuel ethanol and liquid carbon dioxide.  The strong unmet market demand and lack of local supply has created premium pricing and presents an ideal market opportunity for CFP. 

The Opportunity

Fuel ethanol produced by CFP qualifies as an advanced biofuel due to the advanced energy efficient technology, sugar based feedstocks, and onsite energy generation from waste products.  The RINs generated from advanced biofuels have significant value and should command a premium over corn ethanol.

There are clear growing trends not only in gasoline blending markets for ethanol, but also in the E85 fuel market. Currently there are more than 7 million Flexible Fuel Vehicles on the road with more than 1 million added annually. By industry estimates, potential E85 demand will reach 15 billion gallons by 2015. There is strong interest from the state in using E85 in government vehicle fleets as well as increasing the number of gas stations selling E85 to public.

Florida has large and year round market for carbon dioxide which can be used as dry ice, drink carbonation, and for a variety of industrial purposes. CFP CO2 would be used locally for refrigeration and beverage carbonation.

Site Location and Description

The selected site consists of 10 acres which provides adequate space for project needs as well as allows future expansion potential. The site has heavy industrial zoning and is well suited for development.  On site utilities include municipal water, sewer, natural gas, and electric.  A rail spur provides access to Class I CSX railroad.  The site also provides easy access to major roads leading in and out of Okeechobee. 

Feedstock

The CFP ethanol plant is designed to run on multiple sugar-based feedstocks. This arrangement allows for maximum operational flexibility, ensures feedstock availability, and provides the ability to leverage feedstock pricing opportunities. Three feedstocks most suitable for south Florida are Blackstrap Molasses, Sugar Cane, and Sweet Sorghum. The energy requirement for converting these feedstocks into ethanol is less than half of that required to convert corn into ethanol, due to the fact that the sugars are fermented directly. There is no need to excessively heat them to breakdown starch into sugars as required for corn.

Timeline

Construction of CFP facility is expected to take eight to ten months, post-monetization. The short timeframe is due to the availability of facility engineering and fabrication, the site and business preparation that CFP has undergone, and the predictability of environmental permitting.

Project Financial Requirements

The total project cost for the 10 MGY plant is $50 million dollars.