The Renewable Energy Institute International (REII) was selected in 2005 to manage a DOE/NREL funded project to identify, develop and validate an economical, efficient and environmentally friendly integrated bio-refinery technology for the conversion of agriculture biomass residues to high quality diesel fuel and renewable electricity. The ultimate objective of this project is to deploy a commercial scale bio-refinery for the conversion of 300 dry tons per day (dtpd) of rice harvest waste, waste wood (e.g. orchard pruning's), waste biomass from food processing plants, and other waste biomass materials (available within a 30-40 mile radius of Gridley) for the co-production of diesel fuel and renewable electricity.

The first stage (Phase 1A) of the project was administered through NREL. The potential capabilities of 15 categories of technologies, developed by over 450 organizations, were evaluated using the REII “5E” assessment approach to determine their potential viability for the co-production of renewable fuels and electricity from renewable biomass. The components of this 5E assessment methodology are: (E1) technology evaluations at the research, development and demonstration stages; (E2) determination of energy and carbon conversion efficiencies; (E3) environmental impact assessments; (E4) economic analyses and; (E5) appraisals of socio-political effectiveness. It was concluded from these assessments that pyrolysis/steam reforming, operated in a closed system without oxygen or air, offered the highest probability of success. The results from this "5E" assessment were published in July 2006 as an NREL report.

The second stage (Phase 1B) of the project was administered through DOE. The major objectives of the Phase 1B objective were to test:

• Pilot scale thermochemical systems, based upon the pyrolysis/steam reforming processes for the production of syngas and;
• Pilot scale catalytic processes for the conversion of syngas to biofuels.

As a result, two technology suppliers were selected for the DOE funded Phase II effort as follows:

• A 10 dry ton per day (dtpd) Thermochemical Conversion (TCC) system, developed and operated by Red Lion Bio-Energy (RLB), to generate syngas from agriculture residues, forest residues and other biomass resources as available.
• A 1 dry ton per day (dtpd) Liquid Fuel Production (LFP) system developed by Pacific Renewable Fuels (PRF) to co-produce biofuels, electricity and heat from the syngas. Diesel fuel was chosen as the biofuel of choice.

The results of the Phase IB effort was published in a DOE report during April 2008. The DOE Phase II demonstration and validation effort was initiated at this time to carry out extensive testing of the TCC and LFP systems. The major accomplishments to date (October 2009) are:

• The RLB-TCC system efficiently produces clean syngas with ideal H2/CO ratios (2.1 + 0.3) from rice hulls, wood, and other feedstocks.
• The PRF-LFP system efficiently produces high-quality F-T diesel fuels with high cetane values, no sulfur and excellent engine lubricity properties.