By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — Though the first shovel of dirt has yet to be turned for a biodiesel plant planned for Mapleton in Peoria County, that would be the first of its kind to commercially process pennycress for fuel, 2010 was an eventful year for its research and development, according to Sudhir Seth.

Seth is president and CEO of Arvens Technology, Inc. (ATI), the research and development company established to create new energy applications for pennycress by Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois, LLC (BMI), for which Seth also serves as CEO and president.

Seth envisions a world in which the United States is no longer as reliant on fossil fuels and producing countries for their fuel and energy needs, and spent the bulk of 2010 studying and promoting pennycress as a legitimate source for biofuel.

The exciting news about pennycress – an overwintering plant formerly regarded as intrusive by farmers, but whose seeds have proven to contain twice the oil of soybean seeds – includes the fall planting of the first 1,000 acres for commercial usage. It also includes the determination of optimum planting dates and seed density for harvesting, the development of genetic techniques to create improved pennycress varieties and the exploration of the use of pennycress oil for aviation fuel, according to Seth.

“We have been doing research with the Peoria (USDA) Ag Lab, the Ag Guild of Illinois and Dr. Win Phippen of Western Illinois University on these developments,” said Seth, whose plan to build a 60 million gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in Peoria County for BMI has been placed on hold because of an uncertain future for biofuel in the U.S., and skittishness from investors.
Another aspect of ATI’s recent research entailed the establishment of a growing region for pennycress, complete with estimates of harvestable acreage and cash projections. With central Illinois serving as the heart of the pennycress region, projected acreage would stretch eastward through Indiana and Ohio and west to Missouri and Iowa along with the eastern regions of Kansas and Nebraska.

Forty million acres devoted to pennycress by farmers in those states would produce about eight billion gallons of fuel and potentially add $4 billion in farm income annually, according to ATI’s study.

“Just to clarify, our research envisages that we can extract about 200 gallons per acre of energy-containing fluid which can be converted to liquid transportation fuel (LTF),” Seth stated. “This includes about 100 gallons from the seed (vegetable oil) and further 100 gallons from the presscake (meal) through ATI’s patent pending technology.

“The Corn Belt between Nebraska to Ohio, between I-80 and I-70, has about 40 million acres going under beans every year. Therefore, the Corn Belt has a potential of producing about eight billion gallons of LTF per year.”

ATI has established a network of producers interested in growing the crop – Pennycress Partners, Inc. – whose members have planted the first seeds to be sold for commercial production.

“We have planted about 1,000 acres and experimented with different types of planting techniques. The germination rates were very high, and a variety of planting methods are proving to be acceptable,” said Seth.

Among the planting techniques possible for pennycress is aerial application. Another aviation-related development, however, has pennycress proponents literally floating on air: The potential application of pennycress as an aviation fuel source meeting the guidelines of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group.
Pennycress meets the organization’s stringent requirements that fuel must be from a renewable source, involve minimal land and water intrusion and not compete with food or freshwater resources. Because pennycress would typically be planted by farmers after their “regular” harvest and taken down in the spring – requiring no further acreage to produce – the crop would meet the standards set forth by the international group of airlines and aircraft manufacturers.

ATI is continuing to pursue the application of pennycress as an aviation fuel source, Seth said. By next fall, ATI and Pennycress Partners hope to have enough growers interested to greatly escalate production.

“We plan to go ahead to a larger scale of planting in 2011,” Seth confirmed. “We are expecting more support and help. This is something that is going to benefit not only (farmers) but the entire region, and will create jobs. In Illinois alone, there is the potential for nine to ten million acres of pennycress production.”

A starting date for construction of BMI’s long-planned multiple-feedstock biodiesel plant, which had previously contracted with GROWMARK to sell the biofuel it produces to the farmer-owned cooperative, is still uncertain, according to Seth.

“Over the past year-and-a-half we have considered whether there is enough potential in setting up a biodiesel plant due to the uncertainties the industry is facing,” Seth explained, citing Congress’ year-long failure to extend the biodiesel blender’s tax credit as a major factor in a year of decline and job loss in the renewable fuels industry.

“The credit has only been extended until the end of 2011. We are still not certain if this will incentivize the economy enough for us to proceed or not,” Seth continued. “We are looking at what we should do: Start the construction or wait for a more definitive signal?”

Whether BMI officials proceed with their planned biodiesel plant in Peoria County, for ATI, Pennycress Partners and the producers who choose to plant this fall, the “pennycress revolution” appears to be in full bloom for 2011 and beyond.