Sundrop Fuels selects Louisiana site for planned first facility

Sundrop Fuels announces $155 million strategic investment by Chesapeake Energy Company and $20 million investment from Oak Investment Partners

Bloomberg News: Chesapeake Forms $1 Billion Fund To Boost Natural-Gas Demand
Chesapeake Energy Corp., the most active U.S. natural-gas driller, will form a $1 billion fund to invest in companies that develop infrastructure or technology to increase the use of gas as a motor fuel.

Dallas Morning News: Chesapeake creates investment fund to boost demand for natural gas
The Oklahoma City natural gas producer created an internal fund to invest $1 billion during the next 10 years in projects to support natural gas as a vehicle fuel. The fund initially will invest in companies that install natural gas fueling stations and turn natural gas into a fuel that can replace gasoline.

Denver Post: Chesapeake Energy takes 50% stake in "green gasoline" Sundrop Fuels
Chesapeake Energy said Monday that it will invest $155 million in Louisville-based renewable-energy company Sundrop Fuels.

Reuters: Clean Energy hits 2-month high on Chesapeake investment
Shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp rose 16 percent after Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Monday it plans to invest $150 million in Clean Energy to fund the development of nearly 150 liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck fueling stations.

Associated Press: Chesapeake to spend $1b on natural gas technology
Now that Chesapeake Energy has helped create a glut of natural gas in the U.S., it needs to get the country to use more of it.

Wall Street Journal: Chesapeake Launches $1B Plan To Stimulate Natural-Gas Demand
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) said Monday it would spend $1 billion in hopes of boosting U.S. natural-gas demand, the latest private-sector initiative aimed at fostering consumption of domestic fuel supplies that are expected to jump in coming years.

Washington Post: Chesapeake to spend $1 billion to hasten natural gas adoption as fuel
Chesapeake also paid $155 million for a 50 percent ownership stake in Sundrop Fuels, a privately held cellulosic biofuels company in Colorado that will use the funds to build a biomass-based gasoline plant. That plant will use natural gas as a feedstock.

New York Times: Chesapeake Launches Clean Energy Tech Fund
Corporations are some of the few types of investors still pursuing new opportunities in greentech investing. Here’s the latest: natural gas company Chesapeake Energy announced on Monday that it plans to invest up to $1 billion into technologies that can use natural gas instead of oil. The fund, called Chesapeake NG Ventures, will reportedly use between one percent to two percent of the company’s estimated yearly budget for drilling.

Denver Business Journal: Biofuel startup Sundrop Fuels lands $175M investment, mostly from Chesapeake
Colorado biofuel startup Sundrop Fuels Inc. on Monday announced it will get $175 million in new investment, with the lion’s share coming from natural gas company Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Associated Press: Colo. sen. tours solar-powered biofuels facility
A Colorado facility that uses solar power to convert plant material into transportation fuel is another example of how the country can foster both energy independence and jobs, said U.S. Sen. Mark Udall.

Denver 7 News: Creating Gasoline With Solar Power, Biomass.
These days, "green energy" is a buzz phrase, especially in Colorado. And while many companies are focused on creating alternative fuel, a local business has come up with a way to use green energy to produce traditional fuel, using two resources abundant in our state.

MIT Technology Review:  Gasifying biomass with Sunlight
Sundrop Fuels, a startup based in Louisville, CO, says it has developed a cleaner and more efficient way to turn biomass into synthetic fuels by harnessing the intense heat of the sun to vaporize wood and crop waste. Its process can produce twice the amount of gasoline or diesel per ton of biomass compared to conventional biomass gasification systems, the company claims.

Clean energy revolution: Converting solar energy into gas
Cheaper gas, fuel made in America, and virtually no carbon footprint. It is happening and Broomfield is the only place in the world doing it.

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering: Rapid High Temperature Solar Thermal Biomass Gasification in a Prototype Cavity Reactor
High temperature biomass gasification has been performed in a prototype concentrated solar reactor. Gasification of biomass at high temperatures has many advantages compared with historical methods of producing fuels.

Denver Business Journal:  Sundrop has hot plans to produce energy
Louisville company says it has perfected a solar-energy technology capable of producing 100 million gallons of synthetic gasoline annually from corn stalks and wood chips.

Biofuels Digest:  Sundrop Fuels emerges from stealth with 1 BGY solar fuels project
In Colorado, one of the most interesting biofuels propositions in quite some time, Sundrop Fuels, is emerging from stealth mode.

Science Magazine:  Biomass fuel starts to see the light
Even with a major push, commercial plants capable of turning CO2 or water into liquid fuels are still likely to be 2 decades away.  A simpler version of the technology, however, already appears headed to market.