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In Colorado, one of the most interesting biofuels propositions in quite some time, Sundrop Fuels, is emerging from stealth mode.

Science magazine readers would have seen a short note in a December 11th story on solar-powered biofuels (which covered efforts by researchers to “reverse the combustion of fossil fuels, using sunlight to reenergize molecules from thin air (or water) to make fuels that can then be used anytime, anywhere.”

The note deadpanned: “Sundrop Fuels Inc., an energy start-up based in Louisville, Colorado, recently commissioned a 1-megawatt solar array to convert wood waste and other forms of biomass into a gaseous blend of carbon monoxide and hydrogen—known as synthesis gas—that can be converted into gasoline.”

So here’s the scoop: Sundrop Fuels is a solar gasification-based renewable energy company with headquarters in Louisville, Colorado.  The company’s advanced high-temperature solar gasification process turns almost any kind of plant material into electricity or liquid transportation fuel. The Sundrop Fuels process centers on its SurroundSun reactor technology, a proprietary solar-thermal biomass gasifier mounted on a tower and powered by a concentrating mirror field below, creating  temperatures of nearly 1,300°C.

The process allows Sundrop to add solar energy to the process, rather than diverting energy from biomass to drive gasification. In a Sundrop fuel gallon, 30 percent of the energy is solar, the remainder is energy from biomass. No traditional burning of up to 1/3 of the biomass to provide power for the system. Sundrop is achieving up to 100 gallons per ton using woody biomass and sorghum in its pilot operations, and said that another 25 percent increase in yields were possible. This efficiency allows Sundrop Fuels to compete directly with petroleum products by producing ultra-clean fuels for an unsubsidized cost of between $2 and $3 per gallon.

Another potential advantage is scale. The company’s fundamental unit is 50-100 Mgy, but it said that because its operating costs were lower than more traditional technologies, and because it is realizing higher yields and utilizing biomass more efficiently – it can economically take biomass from a wider radius and capture economies of scale with larger production capacities. Management said that their modeling suggests they can feasibly scale up to 1 billion gallons per energy park, and compete with $85-$100 oil. An innovation to make that possible, the use of 100-ton railroad cars of biomass instead of using trucks. The company said it has a compression technology for biomass to make rail cost effective.

The company is developing a 5-6 Mgy commercial demo which will be open in mid-2012, and ultimately the company will look to develop projects internationally, targeting sun-drenched regions such as North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of China.

Sundrop Fuels’ chief exec is Wayne Simmons, previously the founding CEO of Velocys.   Key elements of Sundrop Fuels’ core technology were developed by and are licensed through the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Lab.  Sundrop Fuels’ predecessor company, Solarec, actually began developing concentrated solar technology a decade ago with scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory.  CTO is Dr. Alan Weimer of the University of Colorado.  He directs a consortium between Colorado’s universities and NREL that continues working on this approach (NREL developed the concentrating solar mirrors), and has been responsible for developing and spinning off the solar-driven gasification technology.  Sundrop Fuels is backed by two of the world’s premier venture groups, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers and Oak Investment Partners.

The company has a pilot scale facility in place in Broomfield, about 15 miles from Louisville, the last stage before a full-scale solar tower. The company is now actively pursuing funding and strategic partnerships toward completion of its first commercial-scale facility.

Alas, the company’s website is still in stealth mode.

A PDF on the company’s technology can be downloaded here.

For more information, please visit Biofuels Digest via www.biofuelsdigest.com.