CAPCO Programs

Virent, a Wisconsin CAPCO program company, and its CEO Lee Edwards are highlighted in the Best of Madison Business winners list.  The winners included companies that have made discoveries that will change the way we live.

Virent: Lee Edwards, President & CEO

Scientists and inventors have been chasing this idea throughout history: making something out of nothing, or if not nothing at least something most of us don’t want or need. Virent’s breakthrough BioForming technology transforms soluble plant sugars from corn stover and pine tree materials into hydrocarbon molecules similar to those produced at a petroleum refinery.  Grass to gasoline, or something like that. The renewable hydrocarbons can be blended seamlessly to make gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

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Virent, a CAPCO program company located in Wisconsin, received a $1.5 million contract:

Virent Inc. of Madison said Friday it is one of eight firms awarded contracts by the Federal Aviation Administration to develop plant-based jet fuels.

The FAA awarded $7.7 million in contracts, including the $1.5 million award to Virent, formerly known as Virent Energy Systems.

The companies were selected to help the FAA develop alternative fuels known as “drop-in” biofuels that can be used without changing aircraft engine systems or fueling infrastructure.

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Tim Erdman, board member of CAPCO program company Virent, spoke about biofuels development at this month’s Green Biz Roundtable:

Nearly 50 people packed into the Wilkinson Library’s program room Friday morning for December’s Green Biz Roundtable. This month’s talk, delivered by Virent, Inc. board member Tim Erdman, focused on biofuels development. Erdman, who has a long history of renewable energy development in Telluride and elsewhere, excitedly related the possibility of producing a fuel cheaper, more efficient and more environmentally friendly than anything available today.

The kicker: He believes Virent is poised to produce the sugar-based fuel on a large scale soon.

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Virent, a CAPCO program company in Wisconsin, is researching how to convert corn stover to jet fuel:

The Midwest can seize an advantage when it comes to developing homegrown energy on the farm, a new report says.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs says the region’s abundance of farms can point the region toward procuring more energy from waste streams – whether that means from grease and oil from restaurants, corn stalks and cobs left over from the corn crop, or manure from dairy farms.

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