Colorado’s push to make motor fuel from crops and waste products got a boost Monday with the unveiling of the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels.
The center, nicknamed C2B2, will bring public- and private-sector players together to accelerate renewable-fuel development.
“These new energy technologies will impact all facets of our lives,” said U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden. “Biorefining will strengthen our national security, help create jobs and save our environment.”
The center will operate as part of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a recently created consortium of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.
Chevron, one of the center’s partners, said advancing renewable fuels will complement, but not replace, development of oil and natural gas.
“We need every molecule we can find that we can bring to market,” said Rick Zalesky, a Chevron vice president. “When you look a couple of decades into the future, you see demand that we cannot meet (with fossil fuels). Biofuels will be an important element in the future.”
Companies will pay unspecified membership fees that will finance shared research. Revenue from new technologies developed under the program will be shared by the public and private institutions.
State lawmakers gave the coalition $2 million in seed money to be used to obtain federal matching grants.
Other participating companies include ConocoPhillips, Dow Chemical Co., Shell Global Solutions, GreenFuel Technologies Corp., Range Fuels Inc., Solix Biofuels, PureVision Technology, Copernican Energy, Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises and Blue Sun Biodiesel.
Last week, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will get $107 million more for new buildings and operating costs in the current budget year, on top of the $200 million it was expected to get in its regular budget.
The lab performs the nation’s primary research on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
