Chesapeake Energy subsidiary invests in Sundrop Fuels

In the US, biofuels company Sundrop Fuels and Chesapeake NG Ventures (CNGV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, have struck a deal that will see Sundrop break ground on a commercial demonstration facility to produce bio-based transport fuel from cellulosic materials.

The deal, which closed on 11 July 2011, will see CNGV invest $155 million (€110 million) in Sundrop. Current investor Oak Investment Partners will also invest $20 million pro rata.

In 2012 Sundrop will begin building its first commercial-scale integrated biorefinery, which will produce more than 40 million gallons of biofuel a year. The plant will demonstrate Sundrop's RP Reactor, a radiant particle technology. The company then expects to launch production at its first large-scale 200 million gallon a year biorefinery in 2016.

Sundrop's process can gasify a variety of cellulosic feedstocks into synthesis gas, which is then converted into biofuel and other drop-in transportation fuels.