business
BRIEFS Damman, Portz fill new positions at BBI BBI International Inc. announced that Angela Damman has filled the newly created position of vice president of international business development. Damman, who was previously the vice president of conference and events for BBI, will oversee global expansion for the company and develop new business for BBI's service Damman areas. BBI also hired Tim Portz to conduct business development for its Community Initiative to Improve Energy Sustainability (CITIES) program. He will pursue opportunities to sell CITIES consultation services to interested municipalities, concentrating his initial efforts in the upper-Midwestern states. BIO
Ze-gen appoints Fraser to new position Boston-based Ze-gen Inc., a privately held biotechnology firm, has appointed Scott Fraser as senior vice president of engineering. In this new position, he will manage Ze-gen’s gasification technology; direct the company’s five-ton-per-hour gasification demonstration facility in New Bedford, Mass.; investigate the economic Fraser applications of the company’s high-quality synthesis gas; and manage the engineering, procurement and construction contracts for Ze-gen's future commercial-scale plants. BIO
Partnership explores cellulosic biomass conversion A public-private technology alliance among ConocoPhillips, the U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Iowa State University aims to research the conversion of nonfood agricultural residues, grasses and fast-growing trees into fuel. The partners will examine various processes including gasification, pyrolysis and fermentation. Each entity will contribute its own time and resources, and produce an initial report on the most cost-effective biomass conversion technologies by January 2009. BIO
Green Energy Resources offers wood supply to U.S.companies Green Energy Resources, a Manhattan-based wood waste supplier, began offering supply contracts to U.S. companies in need of wood chips or pellets. The company uses software, called the Urban Tree Certification System, to locate specific tree species that may be required by its customers. Products are collected and delivered via an extensive supply network using truck, rail or barge, whichever is most cost-effective. Green Energy Resources Chief Executive Officer Joe Murray said increased wood waste demand in the Northeast and California has led to new market developments across the United States. BIO
GPRE receives grant Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. has received preliminary approval from the Iowa Power Fund for a $2.3 million grant that will fund the research and development of algae as a biofuels feedstock. The grant will allow corn-based ethanol producer GPRE and GreenFuel Technologies Corp. to conduct a 195-day test to determine the viability of algae production using carbon dioxide produced at GPRE’s plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. If the test is successful, the project could be expanded commercially. BIO
Essent Trading to buy green electricity from Electrawinds This spring, Essent Trading, a Geneva, Switzerland-based energy trading company, entered into a 15-year contract to purchase all the electricity that will be produced at a biosteam plant currently under construction in Belgium. The plant, being built by Belgium-based Electrawinds NV, is expected to be operational in the summer of 2009. It will burn up to 180,000 tons of solid biomass waste and produce 133,920 megawatts of electricity annually. Essent Trading serves 2.7 million customers across the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. BIO
6|2008 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 11