HEXAS BIOMASS INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 10a

Description

Rural farming communities are the key to meeting the US Department of Energy Billion Ton Report’s bioenergy goals. These communities possess the agricultural knowledge and infrastructure to be ready participants in bioenergy feedstock production. Optimally, bioenergy crops would be produced on the 52 million acres of marginal, unproductive farmland in the US. For agricultural communities to adopt the production of bioenergy crops on local unproductive land, they need to understand the benefits of bioenergy crop production. In the proposed project, Hexas Biomass Inc. will partner with organizations and local stakeholders in the Greater Sacramento region in California to conduct research and develop a community-scale preliminary design package for the production of Hexas’ proprietary, noninvasive giant perennial grass for bioenergy products. This project will collect the best available data to guide adoption of bioenergy crop production with the intended outcome commercial-scale production of Hexas’ Xano Grass™ in the Greater Sacramento region by Phase III to supports the social, environmental, and economic interests of the community. Hexas believes that rural communities will “buy-in” to the production of our bioenergy crop because of its superior properties, economics, and ability to provide valuable ecosystems services. To this end, during Phase I Hexas will develop a design package using evidence-based practices and innovation to assess the feasibility for producing Xano Grass™ in the region. This includes the development of (1) a Go/No-go decision matrix for Xano Grass™ production, (2) a minimum viable bioenergy product(s) (MVP) decision matrix, (3) a survey to assess the knowledge of, attitudes towards, and willingness to produce bioenergy crops of agricultural producers and stakeholders in the region, (4) community educational materials about bioenergy crops, and (5) a test plot to demonstrate Xano Grass™ production. Phase II will include the initiation of commercialization in the region, survey and educational materials dissemination, and establishment of pilot-scale production of Xano Grass™. Hexas’ value proposition is that Xano Grass™ is an EPA-approved bioenergy crop that meets the Renewable Fuel Standards thus qualifies for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) under the program. Further, Xano Grass™ improves soil quality of non-productive, marginal soil, has low ecological demand, very high yield, and sequesters 1.6 tons of CO2/year below ground. Hexas expects to work closely with potential customers to demonstrate superior properties of Xano Grass™ and validate its use in biodiesel, biogas, and energy pellet production. Each of application will generate $41.2, $48.8, and $18.2 billion, respectively, globally by 2026.