Joule Socks Away $70M For New Mexico Green Fuel Facility

Erin Kutz1/17/12Comments (1)Follow @erkutz

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Joule Unlimited, a biofuels startup located in Bedford, MA, announced today that it has pocketed $70 million in financing to put toward a facility underway in Hobbs, NM, that will demonstrate Joule’s process for converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into fuels such as diesel and ethanol.

The new money brings Joule’s funding total to more than $110 million, and comes from founding Joule investor Flagship Ventures, as well as new and existing investors whose identities were not disclosed. Joule will also use the new funding for its technology development and global expansion, according to the announcement. In April 2010, Joule raised $30 million in second-round funding from Flagship and other institutional investors.

The Hobbs, NM, site is expected to be up and running later this year, and is designed to demonstrate how Joule’s technology could scale up to thousands of acres for commercial production. Joule now has 11 patents, covering technology such as  an engineered bacterium that produces liquid hydrocarbon fuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide, and a method for producing ethanol at high volumes and high efficiencies.

Erin Kutz is an Associate Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700, or follow her on Twitter at @erkutz.