Triangle biofuels company Novozymes said Monday morning it has signed a global deal worth as much as $173 million a year to supply its specialty enzymes to ethanol refineries that will make fuel out of energy crops around the world, including a plant planned in North Carolina.

The Danish company makes enzymes that break down plant leaves and stems into ethanol fuels for use in automobiles and trucks. Under natural conditions, the conversion of plant material to fossil fuels can take millions of years. 

The joint marketing agreement with Beta Renwables is expected to supply enzymes to 15 to 25 new cellulosic biofuels facilities planned in the next three to five years. One such facility is in operation in Italy and another is planned in this state to be operational in Clinton by 2014.

The $170 million planned Clinton plant in Sampson County would rely heavily on an energy crop called Arundo donax, a giant reed that is considered invasive in many parts of the world. The facility is planned by Chemtex International and strongly backed by the N.C. Biofuels Center, but is opposed by some scientists at N.C. State University and various environmental organizations that say Arundo could become the next kudzu.

As part of the joint marketing agreement, Novozymes will acquire 10 percent of Beta Renwables, which is partly owned by Chemtex.

Novozymes employs 500 people at its North American headquarters in Franklinton, about 30 miles north of Raleigh.

Raleigh now has a gasoline station that sells E85 ethanol fuel -- the 18th such facility in the state built in recent years.

The Crown Express Mart on New Bern Avenue began selling the 85 percent ethanol blend last month. The station, which also sells biodiesel made from plants, has scheduled a grand opening for the E85 pump next week.

E85 is typically made from corn and costs less than gasoline because it's subsidized and it contains less energy than petroleum fuels. Crown Express is selling the ethanol blend for $3.34 a gallon.

All automobiles can use the 10 percent E10 blend sold at almost all gas stations, but only cars certified as Flex Fuel vehicles can use E85 sold at five stations in the Triangle and 18 statewide.

A local company in the biofuels industry has scored a bit role in the national debate over domestic ethanol subsidies versus importing foreign oil.

Novozymes, the Franklinton science company that makes the enzymes used in biofuel production, is featured in a new documentary entitled Freedom, which advocates for green fuel development as a way to break the nation's dependency on fossil fuels.

The 90-minute documentary will be showing tonight at no cost at the N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh at 7 p.m. The film's producers and Novozymes executives will be on hand to answer questions and discuss policy.

Ethanol and other biofuels have been a flash point for controversy in recent years as members of Congress have waged rhetorical campaigns to end subsidies and other support for ethanol and biodiesel.

The state's first ethanol production facility is set to be sold at a foreclosure auction later this month.

The $100 million factory, located about 20 miles west of Fayetteville in Hoke County, has been taken over by Cape Fear Farm Credit after the owner, Clean Burn Fuels, filed for bankruptcy in early April.

The foreclosure auction is set for Aug. 24, said Lonnie Player, Jr., a Fayetteville attorney who has been named substitute trustee in the case.

Clean Burn Fuels borrowed $69 million from Cape Fear Farm Credit to build the plant, according to Hoke County property records.

After operating for less than a year Clean Burn Fuels halted production at the plant in March. The company said initially that the move was temporary and that production would resume once high corn prices drop.

But corn prices have continued to rise, doubling over the last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it has approved higher levels of corn-based ethanol in fuel for cars manufactured in the last decade.

The N.C. Solar Center is distributing $734,384 to 16 grant recipients throughout the state to promote clean fuel and electric vehicles.

The money, courtesy of the N.C. Department of Transportation, will largely be used to offset the cost of purchasing electric cars. According to N.C. State University's Solar Center, the grants will help reduce transportation-related emissions in N.C. counties that don't meet federal clean-air standards.

After years of false starts, the state's first ethanol production facility is weeks away from making renewable fuel on a commercial scale.

Clean Burn Fuels, about 20 miles west of Fayetteville in Hoke County, is in the final stages of testing and expects to begin producing 5 million gallons of ethanol a month in July, said company president Jack Carlisle.

The $100 million facility will produce 60 million gallons a year to offset the ethanol now imported by the state, Carlisle said.

"All of it will be used locally," said Carlisle, who lives in Cary.

Top officials with Novozymes are touting a breakthrough that could reduce the cost of ethanol and make it more competitive with traditional gasoline.

The Danish company, which employs more than 465 people at its North American headquarters in Franklinton, is the world's largest producer of enzymes used to make a variety of products, including ethanol.

The new enzymes that Novozymes announced at the National Ethanol Conference in Florida this morning will allow the biofuel industry to produce ethanol from woodchips, wheat straw and other biomass for less than $2 per gallon.

"Biofuel producers now have a critical component to turn agriculture waste into a competitive alternative to gasoline," said CEO Steen Rissgaard, in a prepared statement.

The EPA agreed with automakers and other engine manufacturers today that more testing is needed to determine whether American cars would be damaged by a proposed 50 percent increase in the concentration of ethanol allowed in gasoline.

The agency said it hopes to rule by mid-2010 on an ethanol industry petition to approve 15 percent ethanol (E15) for gas-fueled cars and trucks, up from the current 10 percent (E10) standard.

Also expected next summer is an EPA ruling on fuel pump labels to help consumers avoid pumping more ethanol than their cars and lawnmowers can handle. That's an issue with drivers who accidentally damage their cars with 85 percent ethanol (E85) fuel (see recent Road Worrier column with reader comments). ... [MORE]

Holy Smoke! A Road Worrier column on the risk of hurting our cars with ethanol drew bushels of rebuttals from corn country, and from local ethanol admirers. (See the column with online comments, and a letter from an ethanol industry rep.)

I wrote the column simply to warn drivers of non-flex-fuel cars about the risk of putting E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol) in their tanks by mistake. Be careful!

But it was read differently by ethanol boosters. Here's one of a few dozen responses, from Bob Rice:

I can’t believe anyone at this period in time would produce such a negative opinion piece regarding bio-fuels. While ethanol from corn may have some efficiency issues vs. ethanol from other bio-mass sources it is still in fact represents a physical net gain in available BTU’s and a smaller overall carbon foot print. ... I really think the News and Observer owes its reader an apology for such an inaccurate and misleading headline.

Why the fuss? This little issue – avoiding accidental damage to cars – should have nothing to do with the pros and cons of ethanol.

Nothing to do with energy independence, carbon footprints and clean air, ... [MORE]