Burnaby-based Lignol Energy Corp. (TSX-V:LEC) (LEC) has announced that it has provided additional funding to Territory Biofuels (TBF), an Australian firm in which it holds shares, and has now become a majority shareholder in the company.
LEC provided an interest-free, non-recourse loan of $500,000 to TBF. In exchange, LEC received 2.5 million stock options from TBF, meaning it now holds 51.9% of TBF shares.
LEC owns 100% of the shares of Lignol Innovations, which has developed technology to refine ethanol from cellulose. It also produces value-added biochemical co-products, such as an extract made from lignin, a chemical compound found in wood.
TBF runs a large biorefining facility in Darwin, North Territory, Australia. The plant converts tallow and cooking oil to biofuel. It was shut down in 2009 because of problems getting enough material to convert to fuel. However, the company now plans to introduce new pre-treatment technologies and catalysts to process a broader range of waste oil, such as lower quality tallow and palm sludge oil, a waste product from palm oil mill extraction.
