KiOR, Inc., developer of a catalytic pyrolysis process to produce renewable oil from biomass (earlier post), has signed an offtake agreement with Hunt Refining Company, which has agreed to purchase renewable gasoline and diesel blendstocks and fuel oil produced at KiOR’s first commercial facility to be located in Columbus, MS. In addition to the offtake of renewable fuel blendstocks, the two companies have agreed to collaborate on information and resources aimed at optimizing the performance of their products and services.
The agreement requires the parties mutually to determine fuel product specifications and contains other terms and conditions.
KiOR combines a proprietary catalyst system with a biomass-to-renewable crude conversion technology to produce a high-quality oil called Re-Crude using a process similar to Fluid Catalytic Cracking used in the oil industry. Re-Crude is refined into gasoline and diesel blendstocks that are compatible with existing fuel infrastructure.
In February the company received a term sheet for a loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program supporting a more than $1-billion biofuels project. The project would convert wood biomass into drop in biofuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel.