02/29/2000

Biomass firm gets Turner donation

By Matthew C. Quinn, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

An Atlanta-based energy company has received a $ 5 million grant from the Turner Foundation to help launch environmentally friendly "biomass" electric generation technology. The gift was part of $ 16 million in donations to the Future Energy Resources Corp. for its generation project in Burlington, Vt., a spokesman said Monday. The rest is coming from private investors who the company declined to identify. The Turner Foundation grant is one of the largest, if not the largest, ever by Ted Turner's family foundation, which is separate from the United Nations Foundation, set up by the media billionaire to support his causes around the globe. When the Turner Foundation announced a $ 2 million grant last June to the Trust for Public Land to help preserve land along the Chattahoochee River, it was the largest in foundation history. Biomass technology was described by FERCO as a revolutionary process that produces electric power directly from biomass fuel through a gas turbine. Wood, forest refuse and chicken waste are among fuels that can be used to produce biomass and electric power. "The Turner Foundation is investing in this technology because it fits our social agenda of conservation and environmental preservation,'' said Taylor Glover, Ted Turner's financial adviser, in a press announcement. The foundation did not return phone calls about the grant. FERCO Chairman Milton Farris said the new funding, as well as the recent appointment of a new president, shows the company "is serious about commercialization and shows the investment community considers us a formidable player.'' The corporation will use the $ 16 million to complete modifications at its McNeil Generating Station in Vermont and test for various biomass fuels. The company plans to develop commercial projects and begin discussions with potential strategic partners, such as paper companies and poultry processors. FERCO, formed in 1992 to commercialize biomass technology, has also received more than $ 25 million in Department of Energy funding.

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