The 10 Top Biofuels Stories of the Year

5. Advanced biofuels pioneer Terrabon files for chapter 7 bankruptcy: One-off or trend?

Editor’s Note: Terrabon’s demise was sad news, everywhere in the industry; but it also set off “the jitters” amongst many observers who wondered if it was the beginning of the end for MSW-based technologies, especially those backed by Waste Management. As it turned out, it was more of a one-off, and WM expanded its portfolio around this time with an investment in Renmatix. But the end of the road for this widely-admired drop-in gasoline technology drew a whole bunch of onlookers.

In Texas, Terrabon filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection; the company’s operations will cease and a trustee will be tasked with liquidating the company’s assets for the benefit of creditors.

The complete Chapter 7 announcement is here.

In a statement, Terrabon’s leadership said that company could not obtain additional corporate funding to finish developing and engineering its first commercial-scale plant. Suspension of operations resulted in lay-offs of approximately 60 full-time employees, effective with the bankruptcy filing.

The storyline is clear enough: Terrabon had a financing round planned for this year, which Waste Management was expected to lead. In August, Terrabon learned that Waste Management would not be participating in the round – part of what Terrabon was informed was a cutback in WM’s overall capital investment following a late July corporate shake-up.