Looking for a biofuels breakthrough in Boardman, Oregon

On paper, making fuel from plant materials looks like a simple five-step process.

You start with a bundle of twigs. Separate the cellulose, add enzymes, then let the brew ferment. A couple of chemical processes later, you’re powering a car with a product that quite literally grows on trees.

In reality, large-scale ethanol production has only rarely been able to compete with the cost of a barrel of oil. And with the recent recession, the dream of cheap, renewable fuel seems even further from reach.

But former oil executive Jim Imbler, who now heads a Colorado biofuels company called ZeaChem Inc., thinks he might have found the key to profitability in Oregon.

And it lies in Boardman, home to one of the nation’s largest hybrid poplar tree farms, grown by Portland-based GreenWood Resources.

by Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/a_looking_for_a_biofuels_break.html