Enginuity Worldwide, a Mexico, Missouri-based biotechnology company, announced that Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has awarded the company a $250,525 grant to develop BioCoal Fuel using its patented rotary compression technology.

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Jim Macy awarded the grant as part of $3.45 million in grants through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund is generated by a fee on solid waste disposed of in landfills, an annual retail business sales fee, and a fee assessed on the sale of new tires for motor vehicles. The grants are provided to local integrated waste management projects including: recycling systems, household hazardous waste collection programs, transfer stations, and yard waste composting. Tire fee grants totaling $2.08 million for projects related to tire recycling were previously announced in April.

“Through its innovative biotechnology, Enginuity Worldwide has provided Nebraska with an opportunity to introduce biomass as an alternative fuel source using the state’s current waste stream and vast agriculture industry,” says Jim Macy, DEQ director. “As the DEQ develops its plan to meet waste management targets, we look forward to working with Enginuity to help us reach this goal.”

Enginuity’s patented rotary compression technology transforms waste streams such as eastern red cedar, corn stover, sorghum stover, animal manure and woody waste, into what the company describes as “energy-dense, easily transportable biomass” it calls BioCoal fuel. The company says it can be used as a cost-effective solution for existing coal-fired power plants to meet carbon emission targets by simply co-firing the product alongside current coal supplies without making expensive facility alterations.

“BioCoal fuel can help make a cleaner, more sustainable energy for consumers without raising electricity rates,” said Nancy Heimann, founder and CEO of Enginuity Worldwide. “This grant can ultimately help build on Nebraska’s $22.6 billion agriculture industry, and further provide a solution for the state’s 15 coal-fired power plants to meet emission targets. We are proud to work with the DEQ, who understands the economic and environmental potential of our technology, and is willing to lead in the country as an early adopter.”