Beacon Energy to acquire 12 Mgy biodiesel plant in Texas from Smithfield BioEnergy

In Texas, Beacon Energy will purchase the operating assets of Smithfield BioEnergy, including a 12 Mgy biodiesel plant in Cleburne. Beacon will finance the transaction via a private equity placement.

Texas has been the scene of several major biofuels developments in recent months:

• Notable start-up US BioDiesel, which raised $100 million last summer in a first round of financing, chose Seabrook, Texas for its first 35 Mgy biodiesel plant.

•  US Sustainable Energy conducted a successful demonstration of its soybean-to-crude oil production capabilities at its Baytown, TX facility. The biocrude producer is also awaiting lab results from a test of biocrude production using 20 pounds of algae as a feedstock.

•  The Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) awarded $4 million Texas A&M’s Texas AgriLife Research unit, and General Atomics, for research into algae based biofuels to support domestic and military fuel needs.

•  Owners of the Galveston Bay Biodiesel project are locked in a lawsuit with Chevron, which owns 22 percent of the venture, for failing to follow through on funding promises.

• Rising soybean prices shuttered two Texas biodiesel plants recently, continuing a trend which has affected at least ten biodiesel plants worldwide.

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