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HILLSBOROUGH: Primus Green Energy moving ahead on goal to make gas from grass

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   Gasoline made from wood pellets or certain grasses will thrust Hillsborough in the spotlight in the worldwide energy market.
   In a world thirsty for crude oil products, a low-cost, high-octane gasoline alternative should put Primus Green Energy, located on Homestead Road, in a desirable energy market position.
   Primus invited top-level officials to its site Friday to dedicate its new demonstration plant. Former Gov. James Florio, Congressman Leonard Lance and Joseph Fiordaliso, head of the state Board of Public Utilities, came to applaud the work and recognize its economic and international importance.
   Primus plans to make “drop-in” gasoline — that is, directly usable fuel that, unlike like corn-based ethanol, doesn’t require blending — for jet fuel, large vehicle fleet users and aromatic chemicals.
   First, Primus will make 93-octane gasoline from natural gas. Eventually, it plans to use “biomass,” or renewable natural materials like grasses and wood pellets.
   Primus knows of no other company that’s making this “drop-in” gasoline, a fact that carries huge energy security implications, said George Boyajian, vice president of business development.
   ”From here in Hillsborough, we are addressing the needs of the global energy market,” said Robert J. Johnsen, Primus’ chief executive officer.
   Friday, after the speeches, officials poured Primus gasoline into a test car and drove it around the lot. The company also gave tours of the pilot plant.
   The demonstration plant is nearing completion at the Hillsborough Road site. Three of the four reactors that will produce drop-in gasoline from natural gas have been installed, with completion scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.
   The demonstration plant will serve as a model for Primus’ first commercial plant on which it expects to break ground in 2013.
   ”Although we consider ourselves a biofuel company, we will be using natural gas as a bridge to biofuels,” Mr. Johnsen said.
   The company plans to be flexible, use a range of “foodstocks” as raw material and respond nimbly to market conditions, he said.
   ”We have gone from the concept to the demonstration stage in only five years, and now, with the demo plant, we can further refine our technology with the goal of moving us toward commercialization next year,” Mr. Johnsen said.
   The cost of Primus’ gasoline is about $65 a barrel, which, since crude oil is trading for about $80 a barrel and recently has traded for more than $100, makes it highly competitive with traditional gasoline.
   Unlike other biofuels, Primus claims its product can be used directly in engines as a component of standard fuel formulas without costly engine modifications or changes to the fuel delivery infrastructure.
   Former Gov. Florio, who authored major federal environmental legislation as a congressman in the 1970s and 1980s, stressed the importance of the day. He said people should remember with pride they were here “at the beginning.”
   New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Assistant Commissioner Bob Marshall said the Primus concept fits into the state energy master plan of diverse portfolio of energy industries concentrating on emerging technology and bio-use.
   Rep. Lance said Primus represents the “all of the above” federal strategy that emphasizes multiple responses to energy needs. In addition, Primus, which employs 39 people in Hillsborough, brings welcome news for the fragile economy, he said.
   Rep. Lance’s fall opponent, Democratic state Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula, sat three seats from Mr. Lance. He was introduced as “the Garden State’s Mr. Energy.”
   Primus Green Energy has a direct tie to Israel; its only investor is IC Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of publicly traded Israel Corp.