HM3 Energy, Inc.
HM3 Ethanol, Mt. Hood Community College celebrate new test laboratory
Gresham, Ore - A ribbon cutting was held for HM3 Ethanol's new test laboratory at Mt. Hood Community College today. Dr. John "Ski" Sygielski, college president, and Dr. Hiroshi Morihara, HM3 Ethanol president and CEO, say their cooperative effort holds a very promising future.
Morihara explained how tests will be conducted at the laboratory to perfect production of cellulosic ethanol – ethanol produced from woody mass, such as wood chips and switch grass. This ethanol is called the “second generation ethanol,” because it follows the first generation corn-based ethanol.
“We call cellulosic ethanol ‘the good ethanol,” says Dr. Morihara. “Unlike corn ethanol, which uses a food source, our feedstock will be poplar trees grown in Eastern Oregon and woody mass removed from Oregon forests during forest thinning operations. This forest thinning is vital to prevent catastrophic forest fires, but at this time debris that is collected is piled up and burned. Just think how this almost unlimited amount of woody mass could instead be used to produce cellulosic ethanol.”
Woody mass is difficult to process because wood cellulose is protected by a glue-like substance called lignin. HM3 Ethanol has designed a unique Pressure Steam Pulping (PSP) system to remove lignin protection from wood so that cellulose is exposed for processing. To Morihara’s knowledge, HM3 is the only company in the U.S. which has designed and built this PSP system. Once cellulose is separated from lignin, enzymes will be used to convert cellulose into sugars and bakers yeast is used to convert the sugars to ethanol.
HM3’s technical team consists of five senior chemists and engineers who have been studying the potential conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock for years. The team was specifically formed to bring a full complement of skills and experience to move from research to pilot plant design and operation to commercial plant design and operation. Members of the team were assembled from as far away as Moses Lake, Washington and British Columbia.
Morihara looks forward to the long term goal of mass production of cellulosic ethanol. “We have as good as chance as anybody to commercialize the cellulosic ethanol process. When we accomplish this goal, we can proudly say that it all started here on the Mt. Hood Community College campus today.”
Once testing moves into construction of a pilot plant, HM3 Ethanol will donate all laboratory equipment to Mt. Hood Community College for use in its biofuels classes.
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